Ancestral Bridges

05/24/2026

💌💌💌
Ancestral Bridges 6th Annual Juneteenth Legacy Celebration

Sunday, June 14, 2026
12 PM West Cemetery
1 PM Ancestral Bridges

The Homecoming

One hundred and sixty-one years ago, Black and Afro-Indigenous Amherst residents who served in the Union army Massachusetts 5th Cavalry began their journey home, on foot, from Texas after enforcing General Order No. 3:

Samuel Freeman, Jarvis Jackson, Winsor Jackson, William Jennings, Howard Paxen, Joseph Solomon, Lorenzo Sugland, Charles Thompson, Christopher Thompson, Henry Thompson, John Thompson, Charles Turner, Charles Waters, and William Williamson.

They followed their uncles, brothers, cousins, and community who served in the Union army Massachusetts 54th Regiment:

Jason Chaplin, Charles Finnemore, Sanford Jackson, Francis Jennings, William Jennings, Alexander Taylor, and James Thompson.

On June 14, we will acknowledge and celebrate them and many others, known and unknown, with a long-overdue homecoming.

✨ Join us as the universal language of music flows from an invigorated remembrance and Proclamations at West Cemetery to a homecoming at Ancestral Bridges featuring Avery Sharpe with a Juneteenth jazz set, homecoming stations with community partners, lunch, an open house at Ancestral Bridges featuring new Revolutionary Response exhibits with Kamil Peters & more.

🪕🎷This year, we welcome Pam Tillis to share her father Dr. Fred Tillis' (1930-2020) connection to Amherst's Gil Roberts (1896-2002) that spans from UMass to Amherst College to backyard improv sessions at the home of Dudley Bridges Sr. on Amity Street in Amherst, MA, in the 1970s, and back to Reedy Chapel ÂME in Galveston, TX, where the 5th Cavalry stood as General Order No. 3 was read in 1865. Including Charles Thompson whose real talk letter sent from Texas to his sister Mary in Amherst is on exhibition at Ancestral Bridges.

🚕 Transportation to and from West Cemetery and Ancestral Bridges will be provided from the Amherst High School parking lot and the far back parking lot at Ancestral Bridges.

🆓 ♥️ This is a free, descendant-led, community event brought forward with community partners.

ancestral-bridges.org

05/15/2026

The Homecoming

One hundred and sixty-one years ago, Black and Afro-Indigenous Amherst residents who served in the Massachusetts 5th Cavalry and the Massachusetts 54th Regiment during the Civil War began their journey, on foot, from Texas, back home to Amherst.

Join us as we honor and celebrate them with a homecoming that is long overdue.

Featuring:

✨Peter Brace Brigade Reenactors

✨A tribute to the Jazz Roots of Amherst with Avery Sharpe

✨ Homecoming Stations: Amherst College Archives & Special Collections • Amherst College Center for Community Engagement (CCE) • Amherst Media • The Emily Dickinson Museum • Mead Art Museum• UMass Downtown & more

✨Open house at featuring A Revolutionary Response exhibit with Kamil Peters & more.

🆓 This is a free, descendant-led, event brought forward with community partners.

🚕 Transpotation to and from West Cemetery and Ancestral Bridges available from designated parking at Amherst High School and the far back parking lot at Ancestral Bridges.

05/15/2026

04/27/2026

04/22/2026

Thanks for visiting Katie, Lily, and Ben.🌺

See you tomorrow for Amherst Arts Night Plus with art by Justin Beatty, Dr. Shirley Jackson Whitaker, Elizabeth James Perry, Anika Lopes, Douglas Miles, Kamil Peters, & more.

Amherst Arts Night Plus
Thursday, April 23, 5PM - 8 PM
Amherst Business Improvement District

04/19/2026

250 1776th Street, Amherst MA

04/18/2026

Save the Date!

Ancestral Bridges 6th Annual Juneteenth Legacy Celebration: A Homecoming

Sunday, June 14
12 PM - 3 PM

This invitation calls us to reflect on the return of Black and Afro-Indigenous soldiers from Amherst who served in the Massachusetts 54th. Regiment and 5th Cavalry during the Civil War, many of whom were neither welcomed nor recognized. Together we will honor their legacy, uplift the generations that followed, and create a space that reflects the kind of community we want to be today. We will celebrate with a Homecoming in their honor.

Join us as the universal connection of music guides us from an invigorated remembrance at West Cemetery to a Homecoming Celebration featuring Avery Sharpe with a Juneteenth jazz set in tribute to Gil Roberts and Fred Tillis at Ancestral Bridges.


This year, we welcome Pam Tillis who will share her father Fred Tillis’ connection to Gil Roberts and Ancestral Bridges spans from UMass to Amherst College, to back yard improv sessions at Dudley Bridges’ house on Amity Street in the 1970s, and back to Reedy Chapel in Galveston, TX, where members of the Massachusetts 5th Cavalry, including Amherst residents Christopher and Charles Thompson, stood in 1865.

Stay tuned as we share more leading up to the event!

🪕🎷

03/21/2026

Please help us welcome Christina Miles to Ancestral Bridges!

Christina Miles is a researcher and assistant curator at Ancestral Bridges. She is a recent graduate from Brown University, where she studied Anthropological Archaeology and Museum Studies. With a background in performance poetry, screenwriting, and creative writing, she brings her love for both the arts and archaeology to ABF.

12/24/2025

Sending an abundance of light to all this holiday season and into the new year✨✨✨

🌟We will be closed from 12/23/25 through 1/13/2026. Please visit ancestral-bridges.org for more.

📸 Doris (Bateman/Roberts) Bridges.
Learn her story from those she shared it with (including the one about this vibrant emerald green velvet dress she’s wearing) at

Happy Holidays✨✨✨