Annual Emancipation "Park Days" Celebration: Aug. 2nd, 3rd, and 4th 2019 at Joplin's Ewert Park!
The official Emancipation Proclamation was set forth in the fall of 1862 and adopted in January 1863 by a wartime Union government. This proclamation, intiated some two years prior to the conclusion of the American Civil War, only allowed for the emancipation or freedom of Black-Americans in the rebel states of the Confederacy. The ratification of the 14th and 15th Amendments to the conclusion in 1866 and 1867 made law the freedom and enfranchisement of the Black-American.
Upon the conclusion of the Civil War in April 1865, there were still a large portion of the Black-American population still kept in the bondage of slavery despite attempts by the Radical Republican government to free all those still held. It would take several years of political and military initiatives to truly bring forth the physical nature of freedom to those still held in the confines of slavery.
During the years immediately following the end of the Civil War many Black-Americans relished in their new glory of freedom and sovereignty. This was a time of great rejoice and accomplishment, and these new freedoms were honored and celebrated by the growing Black-American community everywhere.
It was on or around the day that each individual state gained emancipation from the federal government that was deemed the day of celebration upon the state’s Black-American community. August 4 is the day set aside for celebrating the emancipation of the American slave in Joplin, MO and other neighboring towns as Neosho and Springfield, MO. The celebration has taken place on or around the weekend of August 4 annually in Joplin, MO for more than 80 years dating back to the 1920's in Ewert Park.
Our Mission:
The mission of the Emancipation Park Day Celebration Committee is to keep alive those joys of freedom that were once embellished by the newly freed slave. This is done by commemorating the strength of the Black-American’s culture, family, and tradition that was spawned out of the era of slavery. In addition, it is the committee’s mission to preserve the knowledge of the struggle to obtain emancipation from the institution of slavery by:
Informing individuals of all cultural backgrounds the importance of our liberties in the state of Missouri and throughout the country.
Educating and bringing awareness to the public about Black-American heritage in Missouri.
Sponsoring various programs designed to mentor youth in the various local communities.
Providing recreational activities to the community, with an emphasis being placed on Joplin's Ewert Park, the designated public park for Black-Americans during the era of segregation.
Bringing cultural awareness type events to present to the community for the sake of enlightenment towards the preservation of emancipation for all people.
Bringing live entertainment and activities to the public in the representation of the celebration of the very principle concerning emancipation.
2013 Sponsors
General Mills-Pillsbury
Freeman Health Systems
Plummers & Pipefitters Local 178
Joplin Parks & Recreation
Joplin Convention & Visitors Bureau
KOAM
KSN
KODE
City of Joplin
Hackett Hot Wings, LLC
Prayerful Portions, LLC
Tabitha Smith Accounting Services
Dixie Printing
Joplin Globe
Feericks
Kum & GO #42
Missouri Eagle LLC
Scholotzky's Deli
Carver Birthplace Association (CBA)
O'Reilly AutoParts
Safeway Bakery
