Berlin's Juneteenth Event Saturday Features Prominent Speaker

BERLIN, CT — The special guest of a Berlin-Peck Memorial Library Juneteenth event on Saturday, June 22, will be on national television as a guest on a prominent talk show Wednesday afternoon.

The library's program is on Saturday, June 22, with prominent genealogist John Mills speaking from 11:50 a.m. to 12:35 p.m. at the library, 234 Kensington Road.

Mills will discuss his genealogical investigations that highlight Connecticut's 29th Colored Troop Regiment during the Civil War.

He is also expected to talk about the Connecticut Freedom Trail at the free event.

But those interested in Mills' work might want to also watch "The Kelly Clarkson Show" on Wednesday, June 19, the national Juneteenth holiday celebrating the end of slavery.

Mills will be Clarkson's guest and is expected to discuss his work with the Alex Breanne Corp., which involved genealogical work chronicling the past of America's slaves before Juneteenth.

Mills, a Bloomfield resident, works for CIGNA insurance by day, but his labor of love is being the president/founder of the Alex Breanne Corp.

The nonprofit works to promote "social clarity and informed context regarding the African-American experience through nonprofit equity advocacy," according to its website.

This is done, according to the corporation, by researching and presenting "lesser known stories representing the life experience of the American enslaved, presented from an African American perspective."

Mills' appearance on the nationally syndicated program can be watched in Connecticut via WVIT Channel 30 at 3 p.m. Wednesday, June 19.

Mills' talk is just one of several events planned at the library and in town that day for Juneteenth.

The first event starts at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 22, with a storytelling feature hosted by a Civil War re-enactor, with arts and crafts, documentary presentations, and music.

It all culminates with a lantern parade at nearby Veterans Memorial Park celebrating the town's history from 8 to 10 p.m.

For more information on the Berlin-Peck Memorial Library's Juneteenth celebration, click on this link.

For more information on the Alex Breanne Corp., click on this link.

For a national list of channels airing 'The Kelly Clarkson Show,' click on this link.