Pease Park Conservancy and RISE mark Black freedom history with festival, tours and education efforts

April 14, 2026

A sunny Sunday in Pease Park filled with music, vendors and families marked the second annual RISE Freedom Festival, an event celebrating Black freedom communities that grew out of efforts to document and preserve histories created by formerly enslaved people. Attendees sampled refreshments, listened to choir performances and gathered on the park's lawns as organizers highlighted local stories and cultural traditions.

RISE began as a documentary project and has expanded into a community archive with digital collections, classroom materials and public programs that share what organizers call untold histories. The festival functions as one element of a larger collaboration between RISE and Pease Park Conservancy to bring those histories into public view through events and curricula.

Pease Park Conservancy developed an interpretive plan in 2019 to explore the park's cultural, historical and geological narratives, and staff say the festival grew from community input collected during that process. Allison Johnson, the Conservancy's director of community engagement, said the plan's contributors pushed for programming that would tell meaningful, place-based stories and engage neighbors in honest conversations about the land.

Pease Park, Austin's first public park, sits on roughly 84 acres along Shoal Creek and includes trails, trees and open hills. The land once formed part of a 365-acre plantation owned by Texas Governor Elisha M. Pease, who deeded property to the city in 1875. Historical records note that Pease enslaved more than 37 people, while also expressing Unionist views during the Civil War.

After emancipation, freed people established communities across Austin, including Clarksville on a portion of Pease's former holdings. City planning in 1928, which removed services from some neighborhoods, contributed to segregation and the relocation of many Black residents to East Austin, shrinking historically Black neighborhoods near the park.

By 2008 repeated flooding and neglect left parts of the park damaged, and volunteers led by Richard Craig created Pease Park Conservancy to restore the site and expand access. Conservancy leaders say surveys showed Black community members wanted the park to honor their history through programs, not just online posts, so staff developed a walking tour called Lives Remembered in partnership with Black Austin Tours.

Organizers and partners describe the partnership as a way to return storytelling power to the community, elevate elders and connect generations. Local nonprofit leaders and volunteers praised the events and tours for centering Black voices, and advocates urged continued programming to repair historical harms and build a more inclusive public space.