City of Austin
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASERelease Date:
Oakwood Cemetery Chapel presents To Emancipate, a digital exhibit detailing the history of African Americans in Austin before and after emancipation.
The exhibit shares stories of the lives of African Americans buried in Oakwood Cemetery, and the impact they had on the Austin community. To Emancipate includes a timeline that contextualizes slavery in Austin within a greater world history. The accomplishments of Black Texans are highlighted through biographies, photographs, oral histories, and family recipes.
The exhibit also features a digital reproduction of the George Washington Carver Museums exhibit “The African American Presence in 19th Century Texas” which contextualizes the men, women and children buried in Oakwood Cemetery whose lives were affected by slavery. Viewers can take 360° virtual reality tours of the Carver exhibit and the “Historic Colored Grounds” and explore a GIS map of Freedom Communities.
Visit the online exhibit To Emancipate.