We are excited to hold our annual Juneteenth outdoor celebration on the grounds of the Pea

Island Cookhouse Museum, a celebration that is quickly becoming an Outer Banks favorite!

Please join us at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, June 19th at the Cookhouse Museum to hear the Sounds

of Freedom as sung by our beloved Roanoke Island native Tshombe Selby. Selby grew up

singing and playing piano at Haven Creek Baptist Church, a local church connected to the story

of the enslaved and the fight for freedom during the Civil War. A graduate of Manteo High

School and Elizabeth City State University, for several years now he has been performing as a

tenor with the prestigious Metropolitan Opera in New York. This year represents Selby’s fourth

consecutive return as the headliner for our Juneteenth program. His return is also especially

exciting this year because John Buford, will be returning to accompanying him on piano!

Buford, a much-loved Dare County School music teacher, was named the district’s 2023 Teacher

of the Year and is known for his commitment to community and inspiring his students to be the

best they can be.

The Cookhouse Museum is located at 622 Sir Walter Raleigh Street in the opposite direction of

downtown Manteo! Parking will be available at Haven Creek Baptist Church, which is located

on Sir Walter Raleigh Street just a couple blocks away, and at the Head Start building located

directly across the street from the museum. The museum has plenty of outdoor space, with trees

scattered throughout. Outdoor seating will be provided on a first come first serve basis. Those

attending are also encouraged to bring lawn chairs and/or blankets for seating. On the morning

of Juneteenth, from 9am-12pm, we will also again offer our popular Juneteenth colorful

Tee-shirts for sale at the Cookhouse Museum for those who would like wear the tee shirt to the

celebration. We will also be offering these tees for sale at the 5:30 pm Juneteenth event. Our

hope is to fill the Cookhouse Museum grounds with as many of these colorful tees as possible

each year as a stark reminder of the importance of freedom for all. If bad weather prevails the

celebration will be held inside the Haven Creek Baptist Church.

Representatives from the National Park Service will be present to share information about the

new Freedom Trail at the Fort Raleigh Natural Historic site on Roanoke Island. The new trail

which opened to the public on June 1st, brings to life stories of those who lived at the

Freedmen’s Colony on Roanoke Island, a place where thousands who were once enslaved came

seeking safety and freedom during the Civil War. The trail includes educational signs and

life-sized steel silhouettes throughout the 2.5 mile trail highlighting the hardships and triumphs

experienced by the enslaved.

Representatives from the Outer Banks History Center, located at Festival Park on Roanoke

Island, will also be there to share information about the center, and the importance of preserving

documents, photographs, and other information about the Black history of the area. The

celebration this year will also mark the return of the beloved Roanoke Island hometown group,

The Echoes of Heritage, another local favorite known for singing spiritual songs. We are also

delighted that this year, Linwood Bennet, the great, great grandson of Reverend Zion Hall Berry,

the founder of the historic Haven Creek Baptist Church, and a dynamic preacher in his own right,

will do the invocation prayer.

Our Juneteenth celebration provides the opportunity for all, especially those who live on or who

are visiting the Outer Banks, to learn of the local connections to the story of the enslaved and the

free, reflect on the past, and to look to the future. So plan attend and invite your friends, family,

and neighbors to accompany you! The Cookhouse Museum honors the history of Keeper

Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers. Etheridge, who grew up enslaved on Roanoke

Island, was the nation’s first black commander in the US Life-Saving Service (USLSS), and the

crew he commanded the only in USLSS history that was an all-black crew.

Also, a very special thanks to our lead sponsor the Don and Catherine Bryan Cultural Series, and

to Towne Bank, the Town of Manteo, Surfin Spoon (for their delicious ice-cream treats) and to

all who help to make this event a welcomed celebration each year!