Della Moore of the Olean African American Center for Cultural Development visits with Intandem's Day Habilitation group in Allegany Wednesday.
Local News, News
June 18, 2025
Della Moore shares Black history, music at Intandem
ALLEGANY — Intandem’s Cattaraugus County Day Habilitation program enjoyed an inspiring and educational visit from Della Moore of the Olean African American Center for Cultural Development Wednesday morning.
Moore visited the Allegany Day Hab to share some African American history and specifically the meaning of the Juneteenth holiday. Although President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1963, Juneteenth celebrates the day — June 19, 1965 — when 250,000 slaves heard of the proclamation. In Galveston, Texas, these slaves finally learned of the end of the Civil War and the official abolition of slavery.
“And then: Wow,” Moore said. “We started celebrating.”
Allegany Day Hab attendees also learned about Black history through one of their favorite mediums: music. Moore shared several important pieces of African American music, including “A Change Is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke, “Come Sunday” by Duke Ellington, “We Shall Overcome” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” known as the “Black national anthem.”
Juneteenth became a national holiday in 2021. Moore’s African American Center will host its Juneteenth celebration on June 28 from noon to 3 p.m. at the Bethany Lutheran Church in Olean. Another local organization holds the annual Juneteenth Jamboree at Franchot Park on Saturday.
“One day, it’s my dream, please Lord, to have a big one with a parade and music and everything,” Moore said. “The way we celebrate is we have music, we have good food — real good food — and we have stories about the history of our African American culture.”
Wednesday’s talk concluded with warm wishes, smiles and hugs. Intandem thanked Moore for the visit and wished everyone a Happy Juneteenth.
