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  • Visiting the Gateway Arch: Enter the monument through the Gateway Arch Visitor Center, which faces Fourth Street and the Old Courthouse. The Gateway Arch legs are exits only. Please allow at least 30 minutes to go through security. Tickets sell out early and often, advance reservations are strongly recommended. Pending availability, additional tickets may be available for same-day purchase beginning at 9am each day through our website, call center, and ticket center at the Gateway Arch. Same-day ticket availability is not guaranteed and sells out early and often.

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Tucker Theater Seating
June 19, 2023 @ 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
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Juneteenth Inclusive History Conference – FREE

Gateway Arch National Park is hosting the Gateway to Inclusive History Conference on Juneteenth, Monday, June 19, 2023, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Conference attendees will hear from representatives from the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, the Reconstruction Era National Historic Network, and the African American Civil Rights Network, and learn how to nominate St. Louis area sites to these networks. The conference is free to attend, no registration required. Participants are welcome to stay for the duration of the conference or drop-in for part of the day or specific sessions.

Conference speakers include Barry Jurgenson, Midwest Region Program Manager for the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, Nathan Betcher, a historian with the Reconstruction Era National Historic Network, and Ariel Roy, partner historian with the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.

The conference also includes presentations from local groups and individuals working to commemorate African American history in St. Louis, followed by roundtable discussion with the participants to discuss the people, places, and events they are working to commemorate as well as next steps in that process. Kelly Schmidt, Postdoctoral Research Associate with the WashU & Slavery Project and Elizabeth Simons, Community Program Manager with Great Rivers Greenway will moderate the roundtable.

Gateway to Inclusive History Conference Schedule

  • 9:00 – 9:15 | Arrival, enter through security checkpoint and move to Tucker Theater
  • 9:15 – 9:30 | Welcome & Invocation – Gateway Arch National Park and Rev. Anthony

Witherspoon, Pastor of Washington Metropolitan AME Zion Church

  • 9:30 – 10:25 | National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom – Barry Jurgenson
  • 10:30 – 11:25 | Reconstruction Era National Historic Network – Nathan Betcher
  • 11:30 – 12:25 | African American Civil Rights Network – Ariel Roy
  • 12:25 – 2:00 | Lunch on your own
  • 2:00 – 2:55 | Presentations by local groups and individuals working to commemorate

African American history in St. Louis

  • 3:00 – 3:55 | Roundtable discussion with participants to share people, places and events

and next steps.

  • 4:00 – 4:15 | Closing remarks from Gateway Arch National Park