Juneteenth Celebration On Harriet Tubman At Warminster Library

WARMINSTER, PA —While it won't be on the actual holiday, the Warminster Library is still paying its respects with a Juneteenth program.

The Warminster Library will celebrate the Juneteenth national holiday at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 24, with a special event featuring acclaimed actor Millicent Sparks portraying American hero and abolitionist freedom fighter Harriet Tubman.

The Harriet Tubman Living History Experience highlights and heightens public awareness of the Underground Railroad, the Civil War, and the life of one of the 19th century’s most celebrated figures.

In 2002, Sparks was commissioned to portray this legendary figure in the Harriet Tubman-William Still Walk, a two-week, 180-mile trek across the state of New Jersey, retracing the path of the Underground Railroad, said Peter Lehu, the library's director.

Since then, she has portrayed Tubman throughout the region for schools (4th grade and up), churches, colleges, museums, libraries, and community groups.

"Living history performances have a unique capacity to enable audiences to better reconstruct and
interpret the past and demonstrate how this past has become part of the historical memory," Lehu said.

Sparks, as “Harriet,” exposes the audience to the use of the term “slavery” (“bondage”) as a
metaphor for problems and difficulties confronting youths today.

Informed by such character traits as courage, self-discipline, perseverance, and determination, as well as Tubman’s image as a mystic, clairvoyant, and deeply spiritual person, audiences who partake in Tubman’s message will be motivated and inspired to combat contemporary forms of slavery and bondage that confront the youth population, such as illiteracy, addiction. and hopelessness.

The event will also raise awareness of the Juneteenth holiday, the newest federal holiday
commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African-Americans, and its history.

Tickets are $7 each and can be purchased at the Warminster Library (cash sales only) and
through Eventbrite (credit/debit, PayPal, or Google Pay).