Shadows-on-the-Teche had a special event in mind for this year’s Juneteenth celebration, as the historical center held a poetry reading featuring New Orleans-based Suzanne Wiltz. 

Wiltz read her poem “Zebulon’s Dream,” to an audience at the Shadows’ Visitor’s Center for the Juneteenth holiday. The poem relates directly to Wiltz’s maternal ancestor Zebulon Richardson, who was a slave in the Teche Area. 

Wiltz, who has done a great amount of research on her family history and lineage, puts Zebulon in conversation with historical markers in St. Mary Parish. 

The Zebulon poetry cycle, Wiltz said, is dedicated to her maternal grandmother Geraldine Jones, who the poem is dedicated to. 

“It was from her that I first heard of the story of Zebulon,” she said. “She gave us that intergenerational wisdom when we moved from New Orleans to Franklin. We lived in my grandmother’s house for three years, so I had the privilege of being raised in the home of my parents and grandparents.”

After becoming more interested in her ancestry, Wiltz began to think more about Zebulon, who had very little information associated with him due to being a slave. Wiltz tried to collect as much material as she could regarding him, and after being inspired by a production of a Jane Austen novel, decided to create a poem from the perspective of Zebulon. 

“I thought about writing poems in the voice of my ancestor Zebulon in contrast with the historical markers in Franklin, which don’t commemorate African-Americans,” she said. 

Also at the event was the Rev. Zack Mitchell, who performed a libation ceremony at the start of the event and spoke for several minutes on the importance of remembering the past for the Juneteenth holiday. 

“Knowing where you came from, and knowing where you’re going is a tremendous encouragement,” Mitchell said.