Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
This Juneteenth, we celebrated with Broadway’s DeWitt Fleming, Jr., and an intergenerational community of performers in the historic Seneca Village landscape in Central Park. Interpretive music, dance, and spoken word transported us back to Seneca Village in 1845, where Black New Yorkers built their own homes, churches, and a school. The performance explored how Andrew Williams’s 1825 land purchase evolved into a thriving community, which existed along what is now the Park’s perimeter from West 82nd to 89th Streets. We invite you to engage with the unique history of Seneca Village—deepening our collective awareness of this significant 19th-century free Black community while bridging past and present.
Directed by Tony Award-winning Broadway legend Ben Harney, the performance was written and conceived by DeWitt Fleming, Jr. and co-produced by DeW It Right Productions, with original works by Markeisha Ensley and Mikumari Caiyhe.
Soundtrack: Alphonso Horne and the Gotham Kings
Video: Movements by Shar
The mission of the Central Park Conservancy is to preserve and celebrate Central Park as a sanctuary from the pace and pressures of city life, enhancing the enjoyment and wellbeing of all.
Learn more about our work here: bit.ly/3psB7N3
Subscribe for new content: youtube.com/c/centralparknyc
This Juneteenth, we celebrated with Broadway’s DeWitt Fleming, Jr., and an intergenerational community of performers in the historic Seneca Village landscape in Central Park. Interpretive music, dance, and spoken word transported us back to Seneca Village in 1845, where Black New Yorkers built their own homes, churches, and a school. The performance explored how Andrew Williams’s 1825 land purchase evolved into a thriving community, which existed along what is now the Park’s perimeter from West 82nd to 89th Streets. We invite you to engage with the unique history of Seneca Village—deepening our collective awareness of this significant 19th-century free Black community while bridging past and present.
Directed by Tony Award-winning Broadway legend Ben Harney, the performance was written and conceived by DeWitt Fleming, Jr. and co-produced by DeW It Right Productions, with original works by Markeisha Ensley and Mikumari Caiyhe.
Soundtrack: Alphonso Horne and the Gotham Kings
Video: Movements by Shar
The mission of the Central Park Conservancy is to preserve and celebrate Central Park as a sanctuary from the pace and pressures of city life, enhancing the enjoyment and wellbeing of all.
Learn more about our work here: bit.ly/3psB7N3
Subscribe for new content: youtube.com/c/centralparknyc
