MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – The city hosted its first Juneteenth celebration Saturday.
Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. It’s celebrated on the anniversary of the abolition of slavery in Texas on June 19, 1865.
The city’s neighborhood services department organized the afternoon in Heyward Family Park, with food and vendors, to honor African-American pioneers around the Grand Strand.
“Our residents who are 85 and older, they worked in private homes, education, ministry, those who have contributed to help make Myrtle Beach be the wonderful city that it is today,” said city neighborhood services director Cookie Canty Goings.
Some guests included Barbara Blain Bellamy, who’s the first female and first African-American mayor of Conway, as well as Brendon Barber, who’s the first African-American mayor of Georgetown.