August 8th Celebration

Still in the 1960s. August 8th was a big part of our summers during the 1960s. I did not attend the August 8th celebrations during the 1970s (college, etc.) and did not return until the late 1980s.

Every summer, we looked forward to the August 8th celebration in A’ville. At the time, it was the largest August 8th celebration in the area. Here’s the kicker, I had no idea until the 1980s or 1990s why there was an August 8th celebration. There was no brochure, program, etc. to commemorate the why. It was a day that relatives came to A’ville from their midwestern, eastern, and northern homes to eat and socialize. People drove to A’ville in their shiny new cars and packed the Baptist Church’s parking lot and lined the dusty unpaved road to the Church. The cars also parked along the side of the main road through A’ville, making it a narrow one lane road. In those days, homes lined the main street and they were all occupied.

There was a ball game in the field beside the old school house. I remember one of my great uncles taking me to a game and buying me an orange soda pop. The bleachers were hard, hot, and unshaded. I wasn’t really a fan of baseball, but I didn’t mind keeping him company. I was glad we didn’t stay very long.

August 8th was all about homemade ice cream, (caramel ice cream…delicious!), barbecue pulled pork sandwiches with a dab of hot sauce on white bread, cold grape or orange Nehi…maybe an RC, cake…don’t remember there being pie, being introduced or reintroduced to relatives, and just trying to keep up with my grandmother and great-grandmother.

The Methodist…my grandmother…and the Baptist…my great grandmother had long tables facing each other. If one side ran out of whatever, one trotted to the other to see if they had it. Sometimes, they had mutton. I think at one time Mama’s father (Baptist) made one of the hot sauces. The vinegar based sauces were either blindingly hot or teary hot…nothing lesser. I would only get a dab of the teary sauce and that was too hot for me! If you asked nicely, you could get a bit of crispy pork skin mixed in with the pulled pork.

History… Someone had the Courier-Journal story that was written in 1982 and I read it. Probably my first cousin once removed’s wife, B. We hung out at their house on the 8th and she would have kept the Courier-Journal Magazine in which the story was printed.

A quick overview… During the Civil War, Kentucky did not secede. Therefore, the Slaves in Kentucky were not freed until December 1865 when the 13th amendment was ratified. (The military Governor of Tennessee, Andrew Johnson, freed the Slaves in Tennessee in October 1864. Tennessee was the first confederate state to fall in 1862. Lincoln treated the border states and Tennessee the same and excluded the Slaves in the border States and Tennessee from the Emancipation Proclamation.) However, Johnson freed his Slaves in 1863 and one of Johnson’s former Slaves wanted to celebrate. This former Slave, Samuel Johnson, organized the first recognized August 8th celebration on or about 1871. Note, Johnson was from East Tennessee.

The A’ville celebration first took place circa 1869. From what I have read, this does not preclude the Tennessee origins as the celebration in 1871 might have been the first formal celebration, but there might have been previous celebrations organized by Samuel Johnson. And, if you look at our relatives who lived at that time, there was a lot of travel between southern Kentucky and Tennessee. Some of our collateral relatives were Slaves to a family that owned land in Kentucky and Tennessee. Many of these former Slaves continued to work for their former owners. Thus, the former Slaves in Kentucky would probably have been very much aware of an Emancipation celebration in Tennessee.

In A’ville, the Celebration began in a field owned by ex-Slaves located about a mile from the town. The Celebration then moved to a barn and was eventually taken over by the Baptist and Methodist Churches that used the event as their main fundraiser. At one time, there was music and probably a dance.

Usually, the Celebration was held on the grounds of the Baptist Church, but I remember one year it was held on the grounds of the Methodist Church. Also, a cousin was a pit master and other male relatives assisted him with cooking the meat for the Celebration.

I don’t recall thinking about it then, but A’ville was home to my mother’s people, and on the 8th of August, we visited a lot of them.

Now in 2023, Juneteenth is the recognized day in Tennessee to celebrate Emancipation. I had S make a yard sign to commemorate August 8th. I’ll probably put it up in June along with the Juneteenth yard sign.

(Info re: August 8th…Personal Knowledge, Internet, A Day of Jubilee, Courier Journal Magazine, September 26, 1982, and The Story of Todd County, Kentucky, 1820-1970 Frances Marion Williams, 1972)

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