A new heritage and technology collaboration model brings together a diverse set of stakeholders for the Juneteenth event on Saturday, June 19 (10am to Noon).

The Community CoCreation Lab, the Prince George’s African American Museum and Cultural Center (PGAAMCC), Banneker-Douglass Museum (BDM), and the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture (MCAAHC) have partnered to produce this virtual event.

Dr. Christopher Bonner, UMD, Department of History, will present a lecture on the theme “Reconstruction and African American Memory” with Q&A moderated by Gabriel Greaves, Education Director, PGAAMCC.

Following the lecture, Quint Gregory, UMD, Art History Department will give a demonstration of the Smithsonian Freedmen Bureau Transcription project. Gregory launched an annual Michelle Smith Collaboratory Freedmen Bureau Transcribe-a-thon campus event in 2016. Historical records produced by the bureau are the richest source of information on the African American experience post-Civil War and Reconstruction eras. Most documents have been digitized, yet few have been transcribed. From these pages many stories can emerge, but without transcription, finding these stories can be difficult.