Wednesday, June 7, 2023

Altadena to Mark Juneteenth With Celebration, Awarding of Two $1,000 Scholarships to Muir Students

The Altadena Historical Society (AHS) and Mountain View Mortuary will host a Juneteenth celebration on Monday, June 19, 2023, at 11:30 a.m. at the William D. Davis Memorial Building at Farnsworth Park in Altadena.

The event will honor the spirit of Ellen Garrison Clark, a 19th-century civil rights activist, and will include the awarding of two $1,000 Ellen Garrison Clark Scholarships to John Muir High School graduating seniors.

Tickets are $20 for individuals or $160 for a table of eight. They can be purchased online at www.altadenahistoricalsociety.org.

The Altadena Historical Society (AHS) and Mountain View Mortuary will host a Juneteenth celebration Monday, June 19 that will honor the spirit of Ellen Garrison Clark, a 19th-century civil rights activist, and will include the awarding of two $1,000 Ellen Garrison Clark Scholarships to John Muir High School graduating seniors.

Juneteenth commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in the United States. It is celebrated annually on June 19, the anniversary of General Order No. 3, which was issued by Union Army General Gordon Granger on June 19, 1865, proclaiming freedom for enslaved people in Texas.

Ellen Garrison Clark was the daughter of slaves and a civil rights activist in the 19th century. She was a founding member of The Concord Ladies’ Anti-slavery Society and its first black member. She also spent decades teaching literacy and advocating for equal rights for Native Americans and desegregation of Massachusetts trains and Boston schools.

Clark was married to John W. Jackson, a free black gardener from Delaware who worked for a time with naturalist and philosopher Henry Thoreau. Clark was widowed in 1862.

Clark eventually settled in Pasadena, California, for health reasons and was buried in an unmarked grave in Altadena. She is an important figure in the history of Altadena and the civil rights movement.

The event is set for 11:30 a.m. at the William D. Davis Memorial Building at Farnsworth Park in Altadena, 568 Mount Curve Avebue.

Tickets to the event are $20 for individuals or $160 for a table of eight. They can be purchased online at www.altadenahistoricalsociety.org.