Neill-Cochran House Museum

In honor of Juneteenth, this weekend, Friday, June 19 – Sunday, June 21, the Neill-Cochran House Museum offers free admission all day.

We'd love to see you on Sunday, June 21, for our Juneteenth Celebration at the NCHM, 12:00pm - 4:00pm! It will be a joyful day of barbecue, live music, guided tours, and family fun, concluding with the dedication of our new Toni Morrison Society Bench by the Road.

Learn more here: www.nchmuseum.org/nchm-events/juneteenth-2026

Free parking is available in the lot behind the Museum accessible from 23rd Street between San Gabriel and Leon. We expect a big crowd on Sunday, so if you can't find parking in the lot there is free street parking throughout the surrounding neighborhood.

Tickets are on sale now! Celebrate 5 centuries of Indigenous and American music.

Tickets are on sale now for this America 250 music show! Three performances - Three nights (Fri, Sat, & Sun)

Juneteenth celebrations are happening across Texas! Spectrum News 1 Texas highlights commemorations, festivities, and art exhibitions all around the Lone Star State honoring this important national holiday.

https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/austin/news/2026/06/14/juneteenth

They sat down with the NCHM's Rowena Dasch to discuss next Sunday's Juneteenth Celebration at the Museum where there will be barbecue, live music, tours, activities, and the dedication of Austin's first Toni Morrison Society "Bench by the Road."

Please join us on Sunday, June 21 | 12:00pm - 4:00pm. Lunch from Distant Relatives will be available from noon until we run out. Guided tours will be starting every 15 minutes from noon until 2:00pm. There will be live gospel and jazz performances. And the Bench by the Road dedication will start at 3:00pm.

Limited free parking is available in the lot behind the Museum with more street parking in the surrounding neighborhood. See you there!

Juneteenth Juneteenth marks the proclamation of freedom for the last enslaved African Americans. This week, we’ll explore how Texans are celebrating Juneteenth with the help of civic and cultural advocates and community leaders working to preserve history and unite Texans.

The NCHM celebrates America 250 all summer long with a series of fun, original events that includes something for everyone.

Visit nchmuseum.org/events for more event info and to purchase tickets for ticketed events. Let's make this milestone one for the history books!

This afternoon, Katie Robinson Edwards - UMLAUF Sculpture Garden & Museum (former NCHM Advisory Council member) was awarded the Austin History Center Association Katherine Drake Hart Award honoring excellence in preserving Austin history.

Here Dr. Edwards is presented the award by AHCA Board President (and current NCHM Advisory Council member) Charles Peveto and AHCA Co-founder Martha Hartzog.

Congratulations Katie!

How does our garden grow? Quite well, thank you. With purple hull peas, okra, plumbago, and basil... that we didn't actually plant but came back from last year.

Ok, so we need to work on our poetic meter. But our dinner plates are looking very promising!

"Nearly 500 years ago, a Moroccan man, known to us now only as Estevanico (or Esteban), walked thousands of miles from Florida to the Pacific Coast, becoming the first known outsider to see the American West."

"Between 1528 and 1536, Estevanico walked roughly 2,250 miles west from Florida to the Pacific Coast of Mexico, completing what is widely believed to be the first recorded crossing of North America in history and predating Lewis and Clark's overland expedition to the Oregon Coast by nearly 300 years. Along the way, he was captured by Native Americans, learned their languages and became a healer before journeying an additional 1,300 miles south with the three other shipwreck survivors from the Gulf of California to Mexico City. He then embarked on a separate 1,500-mile odyssey north, and became the first known non-Native American to enter modern-day New Mexico and Arizona."

How an enslaved, shipwrecked African became the US's first great explorer Nearly 500 years ago, a Moroccan man walked thousands of miles from Florida to the Pacific Coast, becoming the first known outsider to see the American West.