The Southampton African American Museum will hold a grand opening event and Juneteenth celebration on Saturday, June 19.
The museum building, which is located at 245 North Sea Road in Southampton, was built in the 1940s and was once the home of Mr. Emanual Seymore’s barbershop and beauty parlor as well as Mr. Arthur “Fives” Robinson juke joint and restaurant.
The museum will open with two exhibits in the space. Upstairs is the exhibit “Grooming a Generation – A History of Black Barbershops and Beauty Parlors,” including the commissioned mural, “Three Themes: Great Migration History of Black Barbershop & Beauty Parlor, Juke Joint and Pyrrhus Concer” by Artist David Bunn Martine. Downstairs will be the exhibit, “African American Art From the Private Collection of Peter Marino.”
On Saturday, from 11 AM to 12:45 PM there will be museum tours. Pre-registration is required for the half hour tours.
At 1 PM there is a performance by HALO — Barbershop’s First International African American Quartet Competitors.
At 2:30 PM is an opening ceremony. A panel discussion on the “History of Black Barbershops & Beauty Parlors” will feature Professor Jennifer Anderson, Professor Mark Chambers, Dr. Georgette Grier-Key, and Keynote Professor Quincy Mills. A Q&A will follow, moderated by Brenda Simmons.
The event will be catered by Heart and Soul, and will feature a traditional Juneteenth Celebration meal. There will be music by house band, Certain Moves Trio.
Juneteenth, which celebrates the emancipation of African Americans who had been enslaved in the United States, was declared an official holiday by Southampton Village in June 2020 and was declared an official federal holiday yesterday, June 17, 2021, when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act.
For more information and to register, visit www.saammuseum.org.
