Events
BY MICHAEL CROUCHLEY
The museum features exhibits and information on the history of the African American in Plano.
13THST.
From left, Toni, Dollie and Areail Thomas reopened the Plano African American Museum in 2023.
N
PHOTOS BY KAREN CHANEY COMMUNITY IMPACT
900 13th St, Plano www.planoafricanamericanmuseum.org
Plano Juneteenth plans ‘bigger and better’ this year Last year’s Juneteenth Celebration doubled as a grand reopening for the Plano African American Museum, which was shut down for more than a decade before sisters Areail, Dollie and Toni Thomas worked to revive it back in 2023.
will continue. The museum is also hosting the Plano Urban Music Festival on June 29 in McCall Plaza in downtown Plano. The Thomas’s are hoping to welcome people from across the community at the celebration. “We always say, Juneteenth is about celebrating everybody’s freedom,” Dollie said. “We want everyone in Plano to come together.” How we got here The Plano African American Museum was originally started by the Thomas sisters’ father, Ben Thomas, in 2006 before it closed in 2011. Areail called the rst year of operating a “learning experience.”
“It’s taken a lot of stick-to-itiveness to not give up,” she said. And it’s a passion for what the museum provides that has given them that persistence. “Even if we get down to $0, each of us is going to have to pick a bill to pay, because we will never close again,” Dollie said. “It’s just that important.” Looking ahead The Thomas sisters have big plans for the muse- um’s future, including expansions to the space and programming. “We want to be on everybody’s lips,” Dollie said. “We’re going to be the biggest little museum in North Texas.”
And after a full year in operation, Dollie Thomas says the Juneteenth Celebration will be “bigger and better” than last year. What’s happening The Juneteenth festivities will begin with a celebration and parade on June 22. The parade will start at Haggard Park and nish at the museum in the Douglass Community, a historically Black neigh- borhood in downtown Plano, where celebrations
NOW OPEN !
1240 E Belt Line Rd Richardson, TX 75081
Camelot
Richardson
75
HOlford
E Beltline Rd
635
N
20
COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
Powered by FlippingBook