2016 Juneteenth Celebration ~ Negro Bar California State Park

Proposal to Recognize Juneteenth Celebration at Negro Bar California State Park

WHEREAS, people of African ancestry, enslaved and free, were part of the earliest pioneers to California seeking a greater measure of freedom, and

WHEREAS, In 1844, Honorable William Alexander Leidesdorff, Jr., “African Founding Father of California” acquired a vast Mexican Land Grant, the 35,500 acre Rancho Rio De Los Americanos. Expansion of his growing cattle and wheat agriculture enterprise helped stabilize the American River Basin, and

WHEREAS, the discovery of gold in 1848 sparked a massive world migration to the Sacramento region; and people of African ancestry were an important part of the mass migration to the Northern and Southern Gold Mining Districts; and

WHEREAS, people of African ancestry who came to California help establish the vibrant communities of Negro Village, Negro Bar, Negro Hill, and Coloma within the American River Basin contributing to the development of the California Gold Rush and the region's rich agriculture history; and

WHEREAS, these pioneers of African ancestry engaged in an array of activities including gold mining, and struggling to secure equal rights and opportunities thought the California Colored Convention Movement; and fighting to abolish slavery and helping to preserve the Union during the US Civil War, and

WHEREAS, the diverse community residing throughout the Greater Sacramento Valley in the' twenty-first century’ is beginning to increase understanding of the importance of preserving the history and culture of the California pioneers of African ancestry whose efforts enrich us all.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by we do hereby recognize 2016 Juneteenth Celebration at Negro Bar California State Park, and encourage regional residents and global tourists to honor the history and legacy of African Americans along the American River Parkway as part of the California Gold Rush Era.