Folks who like historical surprises should plan on attending the Freedom Day events in Billings on Thursday, June 19th.
Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer and Historian Kate Hampton will share stories on little known Montana African American history including the Chop House Affair at her noon talk Thursday at the Western Heritage Center. The Chop House affair is a racial discrimination court case from the early 1880’s over denied service at a Deer Lodge restaurant.
Hidden Stories: Montana’s Black Past, a Montana PBS special, will air Thursday night at 6pm at the Arthouse Cinema. This showing is co-sponsored by the Western Heritage Center and Arthouse Cinema and traces individual and family stories from the Civil War to present day Montana.
WHC’s Community Historian Lauren Hunley says these events help to provide details of the lesser known African American communities, like the Afro-American Social Club on the Billings south side with its 122 members in the late 19th century.
“Each one of those had family that was likely here in town or around the area,” said Hunley. “Many of them were married. Many of them likely had children. And so this microcosm of 122 men shows us that this community was actually several hundred people strong. And they provided a foundation for much of what was happening in Billings. These people were laborers. They are literally were building and working the ground that made up Billings. These people are politically active. They are members of their local political party. They are not just sitting in the back of the room. They’re speaking up.”
Both the noon talk by Kate Hampton at the Western Heritage Center, The Chop House Affair and Beyond: Race and Legislation in Montana, and the showing of the Montana PBS Special Hidden Stories: Montana’s Black Past at 6pm at the Arthouse Cinema are free.
They are part of the Western Heritage Center’s celebration of Freedom Day, also known as Juneteenth, a federal holiday celebrated annually on June 19th to commemorate the ending of slavery in the U.S.
