KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A group of community members and students gathered at Austin-East High School on Wednesday for an event meant to help clean the area around the school while also celebrating a federal holiday — Juneteenth.
The American Institute of Architects and Keep Knoxville Beautiful joined to put on the first-ever Juneteenth Spruce Up. As part of the event, participants were given litter pickers, gloves, trash bags and safety vests as they picked up litter surrounding the school.
Organizers recommended people wear long pants and closed-toed shoes for the event. Children were welcome to participate as long as they were accompanied by a parent or guardian. It lasted from 9 a.m. through 11 a.m.
"We are out and about, cleaning up around Austin-East and the surrounding area, trying to get as much trash as we can. We're also connecting with community members as we're passing through, learning a little bit more about the neighborhood," said Jen McMahn, the component executive director for East Tennessee's chapter of the AIA. "Each year the American Institute of Architects, we come together to do Juneteenth trivia to better educate our members on the importance of Juneteenth. We've done that the last couple of years, but I wanted to do something different this year."
She said she wanted to make sure AIA members understood the historic significance of Juneteenth — a day that celebrates the enforcement of freedom following the Civil War.
"Also trying to gain connections in the community to see how we can further serve them because as architects we are always trying to find ways to best serve our communities," she said.
Juneteenth marks the day when enslaved people were set free in Texas and when Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger established military command in the state and told people in the state that enslaved people were free. That happened on June 19, 1865.
The Civil War ended on April 9, 1865. For more than two months, some Southern slave owners refused orders to free enslaved people and only until they were met with military force were those chains broken and enslaved people were made free in the U.S.
For many, Juneteenth marks the day when slave owners were made to set people free. It is also known as Freedom Day and is sometimes referred to as America's second Independence Day.
