Juneteenth

Members of BSA Scout T270B/G read the 271 names of the enslaved at the Catoctin Furnace cemetery, with a ringing of the bell after each name by Julie El-Tahar of the Thurmont Lions Club.

June 19 is a federal holiday commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States.  This year the Catoctin Furnace Historical Society, Thurmont Lions Club and Harriet Chapel Catoctin Episcopal Parish hosted a Juneteenth Remembrance, with a wreath laying and reading of names of the enslaved found in the cemetery at the Catoctin Furnace.  Youth from BSA Scout Troops 270B&G provided the voices that commemorated 271 people.

Catoctin Furnace Historical Society, with the help of the Smithsonian, used DNA research to find living descendants of the skilled enslaved ironworkers from the furnace.

The Juneteenth Remembrance hosted several descendants, with guest speakers Mayor John Kinnaird and Elizabeth Anderson Cooper, along with a video presentation from Machele Jones, a descendant of one of the iron workers.