Transformative Archive of a Two Juneteenth Pioneers

The archive of two pioneering Juneteenth and enslavement history activists, Eugene Redd and James Rudd, will be joining the National Juneteenth Museum’s permanent collection and archive. An archive amassing over 1,000 flyers, original photographs, correspondence, and original collage artworks by Eugene Redd will allow the museum to tell the story of modern Juneteenth advocates who educated the public on the horrors of enslavement and organized Juneteenth events in Washington D.C. and New York.

In the mid-1990s, Eugene Redd began working closely with James Rudd, another collector specializing in African American slavery related artifacts. Together, they founded the PROJECT NEVER FORGET collective (New York and Washington DC) which was dedicated to preserving and presenting publicly the history of African and African American slavery. Through exhibitions and public programs, Redd and Rudd displayed objects such as shackles, iron restraints, and other instruments of enslavement, alongside documents and visual materials. Their work emphasized both historical documentation and emotional impact.

Redd's involvement with the recognition and observance of JUNETEENTH on a national scale is documented throughout the archive, and illustrates Juneteenth’s deeper purpose: not only to mark freedom, but to remember, teach, and confront the past through lived and material evidence.