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Contact: Justine Hanrahan, 210-534-8875 x278
Join the National Park Service and Mission San José church at San Antonio Missions National Historical Park in observance of the 400th year since the transatlantic slave trade first brought enslaved African people to British North American shores. From 1:30 pm to 2:15 pm August 25, the National Park Service and church at Mission San José will join national parks across the country for a free ranger program, poem reading, music, and nationwide bell ringing.
Beginning at 2:00 pm, we will join national parks across the country for a nationwide bell ringing for 4 minutes - one minute for each century - to honor the first enslaved Africans who landed in 1619 at Point Comfort in present-day Hampton, Virginia. Point Comfort is now part of Fort Monroe National Monument, a unit of the National Park System.
The first enslaved African people brought to British North America were on the White Lion, an English privateer ship sailing under Dutch authority. The White Lion had captured its human cargo from the Spanish slave ship São João Bautista or San Juan Bautista during a battle in the Gulf of Mexico. Before returning to Europe, the White Lion stopped in Virginia for rations. These enslaved Africans were not originally intended for the English colonies; they were bound for the Caribbean and South America in Spanish colonies where slavery was already established. The Spanish had previously brought enslaved Africans to other parts of the Americas, including the southern and southwestern United States.
For more information about the nationwide bell ringing ceremony, the 400 Years of African-American History Commission, and Fort Monroe National Monument, please visit:
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/africanamericanheritage/400-years.htm
Free event parking is available at Mission San José, which is located at 6701 San José Drive, 78214 in southeast San Antonio. Visitors can also utilize the VIVA Missions Route #42 .
Last updated: August 23, 2019