Juneteenth and June Dinner Parades

History of a small town's June Dinner/Juneteenth

One particular Juneteenth celebration, also known as June Dinner, in Wilmar, Arkansas, a town of around 500, has drawn annual crowds for their parade and festivities. In late 2000's I talked with local residents about the origins of their celebration. Here is an excerpt from my writings:

"Although the Wilmar event has been celebrated by generations of local African American, there was no written documentation of how it began. Local residents curious about its origins started collecting the oral histories of older Wilmar residents. Toni Perry, co-organizer of the event, conducted interviews with the grandfather (born 1889) of local resident Aaron Crowder, and Alex Wood (born 1902) who both concurred that the event was happening when they were young. According to these interviews and others, a history of June Dinner was pieced together.

This history collected by local resident oral historians was told to an Arkansas newspaper reporter who wrote, 'A white man from New Orleans whose last name was Ragland settled in the Wilmar area near Ozment Bluff during Drew Country’s early settlement days.  Ragland brought four or five slaves with him, one of whom was separated from his wife and family and sold to a plantation owner in Texas. Once the slave, known as ‘John Ragland,’ was freed in 1865, it is said to have taken him two or three years to make his way back to Wilmar. During this time, Texas had begun celebrating June 19 and Ragland took part in the celebrations. It is possible that he was one of the original organizers' (Riggin, Amy. 2006. Wilmar to celebrate Juneteenth. Pine Bluff Commercial, Pine Bluff, Arkansas. June 16: 3A).

Hence, local oral historians believed that when John Ragland was freed, he returned to Wilmar in 1867 or 1868 and began organizing the June Dinner (T. Perry Interview June 16, 2006 by T. Graham)."

Although there are many Juneteenth celebrations around the U.S. today, the small town celebrations offer something a little different. With Wilmar's June Dinner, there is this community with a connection to 1860's slave history and 20th century segregated society (festivities held around the former black school grounds). This festive event tries to not only bring awareness to a history, but also creates a space where African American culture, history, and people are celebrated.

June Dinner parade

I've included a few photos and video interview from 2006 of the June Dinner parade. The parade was first added in 1976 for the Bicentennial Year and has evolved from what Toni Perry, co-organizer, described in 2006 as "really country” with small with bicycles decorated with crepe paper, people in old clothes being a clown, a guy playing a drum in the back of a truck, and lots of people marching around (T. Perry Interview June 16, 2006 with T. Graham). This contrasts with the more recent parades of fire truck, police cars, politicians, pageant queens, Girl Scouts, businesses, churches, motorcycle clubs, reunion families, and groups and individuals on all modes of transportation filling the street.

In memory of Terry Jones, who passed away in 2015, I'd like to mention what he said about the parade. He usually did not like to draw attention to himself and his community work.

When asked how and why he was inclined to help organize the event, he said that it started with the parade. After watching a parade that seemed to “last five minutes” he said that he thought he could “do something to make it bigger and better” (T. Jones Interview June 16, 2006). He said at that time the Pioneer Club was organizing the event. He asked them if he could help with the parade. Then the next year they had a “big nice parade and that’s how I got started” (T. Jones Interview June 16, 2006). Then when asked why he continues to work on the event. He said, “Mainly, I do it for the kids and the people who’ve come from out of town driving from Chicago, Detroit, Washington. It has been going on for years I’m talking 100 years right here in Wilmar. I do it for the people who are coming home so they have something to do when they get here. When they come home [other times], there is nothing going on. At least they can come home [now] and enjoy some free entertainment and visit with other people coming home at the same time” (T. Jones Interview June 16, 2006 with T. Graham).