SAN ANTONIO – The driving force behind the San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum has been its mission “to collect, preserve and share the cultural heritage of African-Americans in the San Antonio region,” according to its website.
Jeff May, its chief administrative officer, said in a sense, SAAACAM remembers the lesson and legacy of Juneteenth year-round.
“Freedom is not really freedom unless everybody’s free,” May said.
May said the enslaved people of Texas finally learned they’d been given their freedom two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.
He said there were slave-holders who didn’t accept it and enslaved people who didn’t know what to do or where to go once they were freed.
SAAACAM has a timeline, exhibits, artifacts and more, including a wall lined with the stories of African Americans who had a historical impact on San Antonio and Bexar County.
Juneteenth, a national holiday, deserves to be celebrated regularly, May said, “But to learn beyond Juneteenth should take you here to 218 South Presa.”
Located at historic La Villita, SAAACAM is convenient to both visitors and locals alike.
He said not only do they discover history they didn’t know, “They rediscover themselves when they come and take a look.”
Starting Thursday, SAAACAM’s observance includes a variety of events, both before and after Juneteenth, which is Monday, June 19th.