Juneteenth Exhibits

DISCOVERY DECK – EDUCATION CENTER 

The NEW Discovery Deck – Education Center at the Nauticus Pavilion will serve as a space for education, dialogue, and discovery throughout the weekend. Through the presence of local organizations and exhibitors, visitors will engage with the rich history, culture, and contributions of African Americans—and gain a deeper understanding of how that legacy continues to shape America today.  The Discovery Deck – Education Center will operate 12 pm – 7 pm daily June 19 – 21, 2026.

Discovery Deck – Education Center Exhibitors:

• Discovering Amistad – Historic Exhibit and regularly scheduled 50-minute program.
• Tidewater African Cultural Alliance – Performance and interactive booth.
• Tuskegee Airmen – Terrestrial drones, meet Mr. Newton/Newton presentation, visual museum (photos and videos on screen), and recruitment for their Hampton chapter.
• Music Theory Studios – Learn to make a micro mix with on-site turntables. 
• Chrysler Museum of Art – Juneteenth activities. 
• Code Ninjas – Interactive coding activities centered around African American inventions.
• Library of Virginia – Interactive Juneteenth history activities.
• Pure Lagos – African Art and Education
• WHRO – Interactive Juneteenth history activities. 

HISTORY ALIVE – HISTORIC AFRICAN AMERICAN INTERPRETERS
History comes to life at Juneteenth Norfolk with live portrayals of historical African American figures. Located throughout the event, these interpreters provide engaging, first-person perspectives that illuminate the struggles, achievements, and enduring legacy of those who helped shape our nation.

History Alive – Historic Figures Include:

• Joseph Jenkins Roberts (1809 –1876) set sail in 1829 from Norfolk on the ship Harriet bound for Monrovia.  Roberts was a successful Norfolk merchant and became the first president of Liberia.  Other ships, including the Saluda, also sailed from Norfolk to the region. 
• Moses Myers (1753 – 1835) became Norfolk’s first Jewish settler in 1787. Within five years had established a five-vessel fleet for his import-export business. The Embargo Act of 1816 forced Myers into bankruptcy. He was told he could avoid debtors’ prison by trafficking in slaves or opium, but he refused. Although he was never able to recover his fortune, his debts were repaid by the time of his death.
• Shadrach Menkins, (1814 – 1875) was born enslaved in Norfolk but escaped to Boston in the spring of 1850. Nine months later, slave catchers, empowered by the Fugitive Slave Act had him arrested and tried.  As the gavel fell, black and white Bostonians staged a daring courthouse rescue and successfully escorted Minkins out of the city to safety.  This represented an important challenge to that law.
• Captain James Watson Fountain (1812- 1878) known as “Alfred Fountain” was arguably the most successful and trusted seaman on the Underground Railroad. He is referenced many times in William Stills’ “Chronicles of the Underground Railroad”. His encounter with the mayor of Norfolk is well known, but only one chapter in his very interesting life.
• Minkins (unknown) was the steward aboard Captain Fountain’s ship.  Being free black, Minkins aroused no suspicion by associating with other blacks and could thereby serve as liaison between Fountain, Bagnall, and the black community.
• William Bagnall (unknown) was a Norfolk banker and an important operative on its Underground Railroad network.  He served as an open line of communication between those who escaped North and the loved ones they left behind.
• Clarissa Davis (unknown) was enslaved in Portsmouth, but escaped on Captain Fountain’s schooner, the City of Richmond in 1854, to join her brothers in Philadelphia.  Clarissa hid under a porch for 75 days after initially missing her rendezvous with Fountain’s ship.  She married another runaway from Portsmouth, Sheridan Ford.
• George Latimer (July 4, 1819 – May 29, 1897) was an escaped enslaved man from Norfolk whose 1842 case in Boston sparked major anti-slavery activism and led to the "Latimer Law”.  In 1851 he was involved in the rescue of another escaped enslaved man from Norfolk, Shadrach Menkins, when he was paid to keep Minkins's owner under surveillance. 
• Henry “Bluebeard” Lewey, (unknown) was a legendary, enslaved Norfolk man and famous conductor on the Underground Railroad, successfully guiding freedom seekers to waiting ships and one of the most effective operatives in the regions maritime escape network.  Over time, suspicion grew to the point that he and his family had no choice but to escape themselves. 
• Annetta M. Lane (c.1838-1908) enslaved Norfolk woman and operative on the Underground Railroad. She was a principal founder of the United Order of Tents, a secret society of black women formed to aid the Underground Railroad, officially established during Reconstruction. The United Order of Tents still exists today.
• Eliza McCoy (unknown) Eliza McCoy escaped from Norfolk to Philadelphia in November 1854 to join her husband, Robert McCoy, who left a month earlier.  Eliza hid for seven months in close quarters before finally being secreted aboard a steamer to Philadelphia and after a period of recuperation, joined her husband.
• Father Matthew O’Keefe (1801 – 1870) was pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church (now Basilica) in Norfolk known for his bravery during the 1855 yellow fever epidemic, his fight for racial inclusion against Know-Nothing threats), and building the new church building after the original was burned in 1856 presumably by Know-Nothings.  Tunnels found beneath the church and his overtures to the black community in Norfolk, suggest that Father O’Keefe and St. Mary’s may have been involved in the UGRR.
• Michael “Hell Roaring” Healy (1839 – 1904) Just one month before his assassination, President Abraham Lincoln signed Healy’s commission, making him the first U.S. sea service officer of African descent and the first to command a federal ship.  He served his first two years on the east coast in the Cutter service (predecessor to the U.S. Coast Guard) before making a name for himself in the Alaskan territory.

JUNETEENTH WALK IN HISTORY 
In partnership with The New Journal and Guide

20 larger than life “story boards” are being created for Juneteenth 2026 and will be staged throughout Town Point Park to provide a self-guided walking tour that highlights important times in African American History, celebrates noted Hampton Roads individuals, and African American contributions to Norfolk’s military and maritime heritage.

JUNETEENTH REMEMBERS

More than a dozen Norfolk African American stories and interviews to be recorded and then rotated on giant festival video walls between stage performances, narrated by local African American celebrities.  These videos will also be shown on the video screen in the Discovery Deck Education Center at the Nauticus Pavilion and added to the Juneteenth website for future historic reference as part of the 2026 Norfolk Juneteenth legacy.