A Celebration of Freedom Honoring Juneteenth was the theme of the Cayce Historical Museum’s Juneteenth program. Held on Saturday, June 21, the museum invited the community to celebrate Juneteenth with them through storytelling and a craft workshop.

“Tell a story, tell a friend; You’ll never know where the story ends,” Jeanette Samuels said. She was the guest storyteller at the Cayce Museum’s Juneteenth Celebration held at 9 a.m. Samuels told a variety of stories to the attendees who came to the event, including stories about her family and stories they had told her as a child. Afterwards, Samuels was given a bouquet of flowers presented by Pamela Sulton, Commissioner of the Cayce Museum. Samuels is from the South Carolina Storytelling Network and the National Association of Black Storytellers. She also serves on the Lexington County First Steps Board. She has a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Education from USC. She is a retired teacher of Richland and Lexington counties.

Beginning at 10 a.m., Mary Graham-Grant, a sweetgrass basket maker, held two separate one-hour workshop classes on how to sew a small sweetgrass circle. Mary Graham-Grant began weaving baskets in 1990 and later wanted to preserve the tradition and art form of the sweetgrass basketry that has survived in South Carolina for over 300 years.

She said she wants to teach a new generation of basket makers about their heritage and the beauty of form and function created with sweetgrass, pine needles and bulrush. Graham-Grant said the art of sewing sweetgrass baskets is South Carolina’s Lowcountry handcraft. She had a table of baskets she had made on display. The classes were limited to 15 people, and each of the participants were given supplies to sew a small sweetgrass circle. She spent time with each person in the classes and showed them the technique to sew their own circle. After the class was over, Mary Graham-Grant was presented with a bouquet of flowers by Commissioner Sulton.

The Cayce Historical Museum was decorated with balloons in Juneteenth colors, and books on the celebration and meaning of Juneteenth. The museum is located at 1800 12th St. in Cayce. For further information, call 803-739-5385.