Victoria Mansion is open for Juneteenth. In observance of this holiday, we are offering a community day with free admission and a special program. Thank you to Kennebec Savings Bank for their support of our Free Admission Days.

We invite visitors and members of the public to join us on Victoria Mansion’s lawn at noon for a recitation by local actors of the Emancipation Proclamation, in commemoration of its reading in Galveston, TX on June 19, 1865. We will also honor and hold space for the twenty-seven individuals known to have been enslaved by Ruggles and Olive Morse in New Orleans, whose lives and journeys before, during, and after enslavement we continue to uncover and share with visitors.

Since 2021, our Unwilling Architects Initiative has prompted extensive research that has begun to discover much about these enslaved persons, whose uncompensated labor in Louisiana contributed to the fortune that built Victoria Mansion. Through this ongoing effort, we endeavor to shine a light on these individuals’ lives and bring their stories into the full human history of this landmark property.

Tour admission is free, but registration is encouraged due to museum capacity. The reading on the lawn at noon is free and open to the public - no tour admission required.