Pinkster is a
spring
Spring(s) may refer to:
Common uses
* Spring (season), a season of the year
* Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy
* Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water
* Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...
festival, taking place in late May or early June. The name is a variation of the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
word ''Pinksteren'', meaning "
Pentecost
Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles in the Ne ...
". ''Pinkster'' in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
almost always refers to the festivals held by
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
s (both free and
enslaved) in the
Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States, also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast, is a geographic region of the United States. It is located on the Atlantic coast of North America, with Canada to its north, the Southe ...
, particularly in the early 19th century. To the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
, Pinkster was a religious holiday, a chance to rest, gather and celebrate religious services like
baptism
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
s and
confirmations. It also had a long tradition as a day of dance and merriment. For their enslaved Africans, Pinkster was a time free from work and a chance to gather and catch up with family and friends.
Pentecost is a
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
feast falling on the seventh Sunday after
Easter
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
, in remembrance of the descent of the Holy Spirit, in the guise of flames, upon the apostles at the "Feast of the Harvest" (
Ex. 23:16), also known as
Whitsun
Whitsun (also Whitsunday or Whit Sunday) is the name used in Britain, and other countries among Anglicans and Methodists, for the Christian High Holy Day of Pentecost. It is the seventh Sunday after Easter, which commemorates the descent of the Ho ...
day, enabling the apostles to spread the news of
Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...
in all languages, (
glossolalia
Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is a practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid vocalizing of sp ...
or the "gift of tongues") (
Acts
The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message ...
2).
![Pinksterkrone](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Pinksterkrone.jpg)
Pinksteren was also a celebration of the change of the seasons and of spring renewal. Various customs are intended to invoke the growth and fertility of fields and pastures. These include, for example, setting up Pentecost trees (''pinksterkroon''), that have the same origin as the maypoles. In many places inhabitants decorate village fountains with flowers and birch branches to which they attach colorful ribbons and chains of colored eggs.
In North America
Dutch colonists and settlers in present-day
New York State
New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...
and
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
brought the celebration of Pinkster to North America in the 17th century. However, by the 19th century, Pinkster had evolved into a primarily African-American holiday, celebrated by slaves and free blacks, and liberally seasoned with
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
n culture and traditions.
In contrast to the
Southern
Southern may refer to:
Businesses
* China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China
* Southern Airways, defunct US airline
* Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US
* Southern Airways Express, M ...
plantations, the great majority of Northern farm families owned few slaves. With the less hospitable climate and less hospitable natives, farms in the north were much smaller; therefore, (except in the larger cities, once they grew) Africans were fewer and farther apart. Family members were sold down the road to other families. Pinkster was a chance for the Africans to meet up and catch up with family and friends, to taste some temporary independence, and a chance to make and spend a little money of their own. It also provided the opportunity to share, express and pass on African culture and tradition, especially to those African Americans born in North America.
In New York, families traveled from the outlying areas into
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
or
Albany, which remained a largely Dutch city into the early 19th century. There they could meet up with the significantly larger population of slaves and African freemen. By the mid-18th century, celebrations in New York and
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
attracted very large gatherings. African Americans sold berries, herbs, sassafras bark, beverages, and oysters, and they used the money they earned at the Pinkster festival. Today the Pinkster festival in Albany, New York, remains to be the oldest African American music festival in the United States.
The celebration of Pinkster
Pinkster was celebrated over several days. The Dutch observed Pinkster by attending church services and holding important church functions such as baptisms and confirmations. Neighbors, freed from work, visited with one another while the children painted eggs in vibrant colours and indulged in sweets like gingerbread.
Africans and Dutch also enjoyed drinking, games, dance and music during the Pinkster holidays. Sellers decorated their stalls and carts with greenery and flowers, especially azaleas, which were associated with Pentecost, and sellers would hire skillful African dancers to attract attention to their stalls. Their dances were combinations of African and European steps and elements, creating new dances that were precursors to modern
tap and
break dancing
Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in t ...
.
To different people, Pinkster signified different things. Pinkster was a religious holiday, a day off from work, and a day for socializing for Dutch people. The celebration was all of these things and more for slaves who gathered in rural areas or at urban markets. Men and women in Africa earned money, experienced a brief period of independence, and made purchases. More significantly, Pinkster meant the possibility to reconcile with family and friends as well as the chance to maintain, alter, and express African customs in spite of the limitations imposed by slavery.
John Williams, a formerly enslaved man from Albany, argued in the late nineteenth century that "'Pinkster Day' was in Africa a religious day, partly pagan and partly Christian like our Christmas day. Many of the old Colored people, then in Albany, were born in Africa and would dance their wild dances and sing in their native language." In Albany, "'Pinkster' festivities took place usually in May, and lasted an entire week. It was…the Carnival of the African Race, in which they indulged in unrestrained merriment and revelry." "The dancing music was peculiar. The main instrument was a sort of 'kettle-drum,' a wooden article called an eel-pot, with a sheepskin drawn tightly over one end."
Pinskter reached its pinnacle as an African-American holiday in Albany between 1790 and 1810; the holiday was set up on three sides of a square on the top of Pinkster Hill. During this period King Charles directed the Pinkster festival. King Charles was a local celebrity amongst African Ameircans in Albany, they praised the renowned figure. His title of Master of Ceremonies, gave hime the responsibility of keeping the spirits of the participants during the live drumming and dancing performances that commemorated during the celebration. Although Pinskter caught the attention of other ethnicities by the early 1800s it was viewed as a Afro-centric holiday.
Pinkster King
During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the festival was presided over by a "King", who was himself a slave. The crowning of the Pinkster King recalled elections of leaders in some African cultures of Northeastern North America, investing respected members of the slave community with symbolic power over the whole community and honor within the slave community. This kind of celebration, inverting rank, recalls African and European traditions like
Boxing Day
Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to the poor, today Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday. It ...
and
Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras (, ) refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday. is French for "Fat ...
. This tradition may have its roots in the
Pentecost
Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles in the Ne ...
celebrations in the
Kingdom of Kongo
The Kingdom of Kongo ( kg, Kongo dya Ntotila or ''Wene wa Kongo;'' pt, Reino do Congo) was a kingdom located in central Africa in present-day northern Angola, the western portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Republic of the ...
under the reign of
Afonso I of Kongo
Mvemba a Nzinga, Nzinga Mbemba, Funsu Nzinga Mvemba or Dom Alfonso. (c. 1456–1542 or 1543), also known as King Afonso I, was the sixth ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo from the Lukeni kanda dynasty and ruled in the first half of the 16th century ...
.
One well-known "king" in Albany was "Charley of Pinkster Hill", the "King of the Blacks." Charley was born in
Angola
, national_anthem = " Angola Avante"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capital = Luanda
, religion =
, religion_year = 2020
, religion_ref =
, coordina ...
, said to be of royal blood, and became the servant of
Volkert P. Douw
Volkert Petrus Douw (March 23, 1720 – March 20, 1801) was a merchant and politician from Albany, New York who was prominent both during colonial times and after the United States was established.
Early life
Douw was born on March 23, 1720 in A ...
, a wealthy merchant. "King Charles" dressed in the costume of a British Brigadier, a long scarlet coat with gold lace and yellow buckskin accessories, and a
three-cornered hat. Charley and his followers, decorated with "pinkster blummies" (
azalea
Azaleas are flowering shrubs in the genus ''Rhododendron'', particularly the former sections ''Tsutsusi'' (evergreen) and '' Pentanthera'' (deciduous). Azaleas bloom in the spring (April and May in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, and Octob ...
s), led a parade up Albany's
State Street. Following the parade "the negroes made merry with games and feasting, all paying homage to the king, who was held in awe and reverence as an African prince. In the evening there was a grand dance, led by Charles and some sable beauty."
Impact on African-Americans
Pinkster as an African-American celebration reached its height in New York between 1790 and 1810. Before the holiday, temporary shelters were built, frequently based on styles imitating African shelters. The festival could continue for three to four days, including sports, dance, and music. The highlight was the Toto or the Guinea dance, performed to the beating of drums.
While Enslaved Africans no doubt looked forward to Pinkster for the break from their daily drudgery and the socializing, it does not minimize the horrors of their Enslavement.
Race-based legislation
Some time between 1811 and 1813 despite or perhaps because of its popularity, the city of
Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...
passed a city ordinance banning the drinking and dancing associated with Pinkster. Whites were concerned that the congregation and socialization of large groups of African Americans could provide them with the opportunity to plot or plan revolution. Some historians believe the council wanted to eliminate Pinkster because it didn't appeal to the burgeoning middle class, pointing to the fact that the law was eventually overturned, which would contradict the motivation of preventing uprisings. This law was only repealed in 2011.
Albert James Williams Myers, professor of Black Studies at the
State University of New York at New Paltz
The State University of New York at New Paltz (SUNY New Paltz or New Paltz) is a public university in New Paltz, New York. It traces its origins to the New Paltz Classical School, a secondary institution founded in 1828 and reorganized as an a ...
remarks, "I think that political officials in Albany and elsewhere within New York felt that since Pinkster was a gathering for Africans that perhaps it could lead to a revolt and so I think it was really fear of the possibility that something like this could happen that we have to bring it to an end. So for all intents and purposes Pinkster is a memory, at least the way it was celebrated along the Hudson before 1811."
In modern times
Since the 1970s, efforts have been made to resurrect Pinkster in New York, such as at
Philipsburg Manor House
Philipsburg Manor House is a historic house in the Upper Mills section of the former sprawling Colonial-era estate known as Philipsburg Manor. Together with a water mill and trading site the house is operated as a non-profit museum by Historic H ...
, an 18th-century living history museum located in
Sleepy Hollow, New York
Sleepy Hollow is a village in the town of Mount Pleasant, in Westchester County, New York, United States. The village is located on the east bank of the Hudson River, about north of New York City, and is served by the Philipse Manor stop on ...
, once the central location for milling and mercantile operations in the Hudson Valley. Every Spring, Philipsburg Manor recreates an authentic celebration of Pinkster in North America, combining both Dutch and African traditions. In
Albany,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
Pinksterfest has been incorporated into the city's annual
Tulip Festival
Tulip festivals are held in several cities around the world, mostly in North America, usually in cities with a Dutch heritage such as Albany, New York, Ottawa, Ontario; Gatineau, Quebec; Montreal, Quebec; Holland, Michigan; Lehi, Utah; Orang ...
, celebrated on
Mother's Day
Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in the ...
.
For guests of all ages, Djembes and Dance—which includes a recreation of a colonial Pinkster festival—is a delightful and instructive experience. The occasion recognizes both slavery's tyranny in New York and its final defeat. With more than a century's worth of Hudson Valley Pinkster celebrations combined, it is the only true Pinkster recreation in North America. Children's games like ninepins and stilts, holiday-specific baked products, egg-dyeing, and European-style country dance all derive from Dutch culture. A spectacular parade, storytelling, drumming, dance, and the selection of a Pinkster King all stem from African custom. The Philipses, affluent Dutch merchants, held the Upper Mills property at Philipsburg Manor, which at the time covered more than 50,000 acres. There year-round dwelt a community of 23 enslaved Africans who ran a grist mill and a sizable farm. The Philipses leased out manor property to European tenants, many of whom were Dutch, who planted wheat as a cash crop. We don't know if the African and Dutch inhabitants of the manor attended one of the larger neighboring metropolitan festivals or hosted their own Pinkster celebrations in Philipsburg throughout the 1700s.
Pinkster is still recognized as an official holiday in The Netherlands, though many of the early types of celebrations are no longer in fashion, rendering the long weekend more just a basic holiday for all.
An early scene in
Kaitlyn Greenidge
Kaitlyn Greenidge is an American writer. She received a 2017 Whiting Awards, Whiting Award for Fiction for her debut novel, ''We Love You, Charlie Freeman''. Her second book is a historical novel called ''Libertie'' (2021).
Early life and educa ...
's historical novel ''Libertie'' (Algonquin Books, 2021) is set during a Pinkster celebration in New York.
If you would like a Virtual Pinkster Celebration, Chief Baba Neil Clarke, O.H. Prince, and Ayodele Maakheru talks about the music and culture of Pinkster. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4zEjxxikSU
See also
*
Historic Hudson Valley
Historic Hudson Valley is a not-for-profit educational and historic preservation organization headquartered in Tarrytown, New York. The organization runs tours and events at five historic properties in Westchester County, in the lower Hudson River ...
*
Juneteenth
Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Deriving its name from combining "June" and "nineteenth", it is celebrated on the anniversary of General Order No. 3, i ...
*
Kwanzaa
Kwanzaa () is an annual celebration of African-American culture from December 26 to January 1, culminating in a communal feast called ''Karamu'', usually on the sixth day. It was created by activist Maulana Karenga, based on African harvest ...
References
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External links
*
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{{Authority control
Pentecost
African-American cultural history
Angolan-American history
Colonial United States (Dutch)
African-American events
Observances in New York City
Culture of Albany, New York