Music, art, history come alive at annual Jubilee Festival

For at least 175 years, African-American culture has been nurtured, challenged, defended and discovered at the small house at 1403 Richland St., in downtown Columbia.

And on one fall day for the past four decades, those joys, challenges, victories and discoveries are celebrated at the Mann-Simons Site with Jubilee: Festival of Black History & Culture, where music, art, dance and storytelling teaches, enlightens and entertains. This year’s 40th annual Jubilee is 11 a.m.-6 p.m. on Sept. 22.

“We love to get together to sing and dance to relieve some of the toil of the week, of the time,” said Jubilee co-founder Marjorie Hammock. “As we explored our history, we realized we need to highlight these activities, to give them meaning. (The Jubilee) became a festival in terms of naming the nature of the get-together. Music and dance and food were very traditional to our way of being.”

At 40-years old, Historic Columbia’s Jubilee is the longest running festival in Columbia’s modern history.

“The Jubilee Festival of Black History and Culture has endured and grown over the past 40 years because the community has come to respect it and expect it,” said Dawn Mills Campbell, who is a member of the Jubilee Steering Committee and the Historic Columbia Board of Trustees. “This festival is one of the region’s largest celebrations of black history, culture and music, and the community looks forward to it.”

The festival invokes a sense of pride in black history and culture, Mills Campbell said.

“Each time we gather on the grounds of the historic Mann-Simons Site, which is the backdrop for this fabulous celebration, we understand that the African American story continues to unfold,” she said.

The festival offers a sense of history just by being held at the Mann-Simons Site. Past and present African-American culture is shared through the music and art.

“We have played such a major role in the building, maintaining and growth of this city,” said Jubilee committee member Sherard Duvall. “This festival celebrates that in totality, the past present and future of black Columbia. How long it’s been around is a testament to its importance to the African-American community here.”

Here is a look at the different facets of the Jubilee that combine to make it a festival like no other:

The History

The Mann-Simons Site was once a collection of commercial and domestic spaces, but now only one house remains. Using archaeological evidence, white metal “ghost structures” were erected to represent the structures that once stood on the property. The spaces were owned and operated by the same African-American family, whose lineage was started by midwife Celia Mann and boatman Ben Delane, from at least 1843 to 1970.

“The Mann-Simons Site is important because it really is the epitome of an American story,” said Jubilee committee member Porchia Moore. “You have a couple who came to freedom, from Charleston to Columbia, started a number of businesses, raised a family, and literally helped to build a solid community here in Columbia.”

“It’s one of the most important sites in terms of history and historical significance in South Carolina. And the fact that this organization has taken the time to look at all of the archaeological objects that were uncovered, to be able to strengthen and tell this story of the African American spirit of entrepreneurship and survival and liberation is so important to the country’s narrative.”

A multi-year archaeological excavation at Mann-Simons was completed in February 2012, during which more than 60,000 artifacts were uncovered. In 2014, new exhibits and interpretation debuted showcasing these artifacts and additional research representing the site and family.

“Celia Mann enabled celebrations by the virtue of things she and her husband did,” Hammock said. “He provided entertainment for the community. And interestingly enough, it was not a segregated environment — it was an integrated environment — because their services were necessary to the locals.”

So in a way, the festival dates back far more than its 40 years.

“I see it as a way that community not only comes together and supports each other, but continuously grows,” said Moore, who has attended the festival her entire life. “I think the impact is that it’s like a family reunion of sorts.”I think Jubilee is still going strong after 40 years because it’s a very authentic, joyful celebration of African American history and culture.”

Tours of the Mann-Simons Site and the Modjeska Monteith Simkins House are available during the festival for $1, as well as the African American Historic Sites Bus Tour for $4. The bus tours will take place on the hour between 1-4 p.m.

The Music

Ten bands will perform a variety of genres, including R&B, jazz, gospel and soul. Headlining the event will be neo-soul duo will be performed at the festival by 10 bands, including Kindred the Family Soul. , a Philadelphia-based neo-soul duo who has recorded several albums and was nominated for a Soul Train Music Award and a BET Award. Other performers include the Benedict College Concert Choir and TiffanyJ.

“Music is an important piece of the Jubilee Festival because it is the one thing that brings us together, especially those of African decent,” said TiffanyJ. “The origins and different styles of music are rich to our culture and most often it’s our escape from reality, our cry through hope for change, or our way to express our freedom and liberties.”

Jubilee committee member Duvall agrees.

“Music is one of the pillars of African-American culture,” Duvall says. “This festival is celebrating the whole of African-American culture in Columbia. It’s impossible to celebrate that without music, that’s why it’s such an important part of the festival.”

Art and Storytelling

Not only will there be vendors selling artistic wares, but artists will also share their craft with demonstrations. These include sweetgrass basket making, broom makers, storytellers and re-enactors.

Mary Graham-Grant will be demonstrating sweetgrass basket making.

“I teach anyone who comes under my tent and is interested in wanting to learn how sweetgrass baskets are made, I give them a hands-on demonstration,” Graham-Grant says.

Graham-Grant was introduced to the craft when a woman from McClellanville visited her hometown of Georgetown. She learned it was an African art form brought to the Low Country by enslaved people.

“Knowing that this was a part of my heritage, I thought I needed to learn how to make the baskets myself,” said Mary Graham-Grant, who will demonstrate sweetgrass basket making.

The history of sweetgrass basket making makes it an important part of the festival she says. She’s been demonstrating her craft at Jubilee for more than a decade.

This story was originally published September 17, 2018 at 1:15 PM.