Juneteenthcover
Dancers entertain the crowds at Newton's annual Juneteenth celebration at the Hyde Community Center on June 19, 2025.
The Harmony Foundation hosted its annual Juneteenth celebration at the Hyde Community Center on Thursday, drawing hundreds of people to enjoy the arrival of summer and commemorate the 160th anniversary of the end of slavery in America.
Families endured the heat (temperatures breached 90 degrees) for an afternoon of music, dancing and community. The food trucks didn’t hurt, either.
Juneteenth is a holiday that’s been celebrated in the South for a long time but has more recently been recognized nationwide.
President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation took effect on Jan. 1, 1863, but it would be more than two years before the order would be implemented throughout the whole Confederacy. On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced the end of slavery, freeing the more than 250,000 enslaved Black people there and completing the liberation of the South.
That day is known as Juneteenth, a holiday celebrated in the South ever since. In 2020, after a summer of racial unrest following the murder of George Floyd, President Joe Biden had Juneteenth made a national holiday, starting in 2021.
Check out these photos from Newton’s Juneteenth celebration.
Harmony Foundation board member and School Committee member Tamika Olszewski shakes a man’s hand after she dances the Electric Slide at Newton’s annual Juneteenth celebration at the Hyde Community Center. Photo by Bryan McGonigle
Gabrielle Howard hands out cupcakes to State Rep. Amy Sangiolo and former City Councilor Emily Norton at Newton’s annual Juneteenth celebration at the Hyde Community Center on June 19, 2025. Photo by Bryan McGonigle
Jeremy Freudberg, left, Sharyn Roberts, center, and Tamika Olszewski talk at the League of Women Voters of Newton booth at Newton’s Juneteenth celebration. Photo by Bryan McGonigle
Josephine McNeil of Can-Do Newton speaks with City Councilor Stephen Farrell at Newton’s annual Juneteenth celebration at the Hyde Community Center on June 19, 2025. Photo by Bryan McGonigle
City Council candidate Garry Miller talks with vendor Michelle Pompilus at Newton’s annual Juneteenth celebration at the Hyde Community Center on June 19, 2025. Photo by Bryan McGonigle
School Superintendent Anna Nolin and her human resources team talk with residents at Newton’s annual Juneteenth celebration at the Hyde Community Center on June 19, 2025. Photo by Bryan McGonigle
City Councilor Rena Getz and School Committee candidate Jason Bhardwaj attend Newton’s fourth annual Juneteenth celebration. Photo by Bryan McGonigle
Marie-France Noel shows merchandise to a customer at Newton’s Juneteenth celebration on June 19, 2025. Photo by Bryan McGonigle
City Council President and mayoral candidate Marc Laredo and School Committee candidate Linda Swain attend Newton’s annual Juneteenth celebration at the Hyde Community Center on June 19, 2025. Photo by Bryan McGonigle
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