For Immediate Release: April 30th, 2019
Athens Day of Jubilee-Honoring our Ancestors & Baldwin Hall Vigil

When: Saturday, May 4th at 5pm Where: UGA Arch rally begins 5pm, march to City Hall then to the Morton Theater (General public welcome to join us).

Athens, Georgia— The Morton Theatre Corporation (MTC) will host a gospel concert as part of the community’s Third Annual Day of Jubilee commemoration organized by the Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement held 4 pm at Baldwin Hall to honor the ancestors.  5 pm rally begins at UGA Arch and then organizers will march to City Hall to bring awareness to the Day of Jubilee and Baldwin Hall-UGA slave history.

The Day of Jubilee Rally will begin 5pm at UGA Arch and the Gospel Celebration will take place at 6 p.m., Saturday, May 4, 2019, at the Morton Theatre and will feature the choirs from the three oldest African-American churches in Athens: Ebenezer Baptist Church West Sanctuary Choir, East Friendship Baptist Church Voices of Life, and Mount Pleasant Baptist Church Choir. There’s a $5 suggested cash donation at the door.  

Prior to the Morton event, there will be a wreath-laying ceremony at Baldwin Hall to honor the remains found there during a 2015 renovation and expansion. Then, participants will meet at 5 p.m. at UGA ARCH and march to City Hall for an “Honoring Our Ancestors” program before marching to the Morton. 
“We are so glad that the Morton Theatre Corporation has decided to join this celebration of our freedom, strength and endurance,” said Mokah Johnson, president and founder of the Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement (AADM), one the event’s organizers. “We look forward to this day of remembrance.” 
It was on Thursday, May 4, 1865—what became known as the “Day of Jubilee”—that Union soldiers arrived in Clarke County and freed the county’s roughly 5,000 enslaved Africans. These emancipated slaves hoisted an American flag up the flagpole in front of Athens Town Hall and danced in ecstatic celebration around “the flagpole of liberty.” Now, 154 years later this celebration honoring this historic occasion will take place.

“To say that this was an important moment in Athens history is an understatement, said historian Fred Smith Sr., of the Athens Area Black History Committee, another event organizer. “We can’t imagine their day of Jubilee—the enjoyment of experiencing freedom for the very first time.”
In November 2015, the renovation was halted when workers discovered a skull at the Baldwin Hall site, located adjacent to Jackson Street or Old Athens Cemetery. Subsequent excavation and testing revealed that most of the remains that were tested were of African ancestry and presumably slaves, given that the cemetery where they were found closed in 1856.

“We wanted to be a part of this event because we believe it is important to our community,” said Amber Prentiss, a member of the  MTC Board of Directors. “Adding the gospel celebration seemed like a natural extension.”
Speakers at the events will include the Rev. Abraham Mosley of Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, Linda Davis, coordinator for the restoration of the Brooklyn Cemetery, Smith and Johnson.

For more information, please contact Mokah Johnson at 678-835-8497 or Kimberly Davis at 404-906-6176.