(COLUMBIA, SC) – A cultural tradition continues with the 2009 Jubilee: Festival of Heritage, featuring the contributions of a family whose roots began with the work of a freed slave to the entrepreneurial spirit of her descendants. Historic Columbia Foundation will host Jubilee on Saturday, September 12 from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. at the Mann-Simons Cottage, 1403 Richland Street in Columbia, South Carolina. Admission is free.

This year’s festival will highlight the history of Columbia’s African-American neighborhoods and historic sites including the Mann-Simons Cottage. Jubilee also features a variety of activities including hands-on demonstrations from some of the regions most skilled artists and craftsmen, musical entertainment, vendors, and tours of African-American heritage sites. Programs associated with the festival begin on Thursday, September 10 with a panel discussion on African-American Historic Places. On Friday, September 11, participants can enjoy Swing Dancing and a program featuring the history of the Big Apple Dance. Activities continue on Saturday with the day-long festival. For a complete schedule, visit www.HistoricColumbia.org.

During the festival, members of the community can also share information about their historic downtown neighborhood. Individuals can share memories, photographs, historic items, and other information on neighborhoods including Arsenal Hill, Cottontown, Waverly, Lower Waverly throughout the day at the Modjeska Simkins House, 2025 Marion Street.

Continuing the neighborhood history theme, Historic Columbia Foundation also invites students in grades K-12 to participate in an oral history contest to celebrate the history and diversity of Columbia’s neighborhoods.   Neighborhoods are a vital part to any city and give a city character.  Each student’s work will be used to document the change in Columbia’s neighborhoods over time.  For contest and entry information, visit www.HistoricColumbia.org or call 803.252.1770, ext. 36.

For 31 years, the Jubilee: Festival of Heritage has celebrated and honored the life of Celia Mann and her descendants.  Mann, an enslaved Charlestonian midwife, gained her freedom, walked to Columbia and acquired a circa-1850 cottage before the Civil War. Her descendants occupied the home for more than 100 years until it was restored as a house museum in the 1970s. The Mann-Simons Cottage has statewide significance as one of only a few houses in South Carolina once owned by free blacks in antebellum days and now preserved as historic house museums. The collections in the cottage reflect the entrepreneurial spirit of free blacks. An exhibition presents information on Celia Mann and her descendents, the restoration of the cottage, and the archaeological excavation at the site.

For more information on the 2009 Jubilee: Festival of Heritage call, 803.252.1770, ext. 33 or visit www.HistoricColumbia.org.

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