About Us

The Ma Jane Gardner Family Reunion honors the life, memory, and legacy of our oldest known ancestor as well as our ancestors who came after Ma Jane. With over 8 generations and 40 years of family reunions, we all represent the resiliency and importance of collective efforts to maintain familial ties and knowledge of African American family history.

Sprawled across the US and abroad, the descendants of Ma Jane Gardner convene every year on the third weekend in June to celebrate family, life, and our shared history. This date was originally chosen as a symbolic nod to align with June 19th (Juneteenth), a day that commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers announced the end of slavery in Galveston, Texas, freeing the "last" enslaved people after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.

The Ma Jane Gardner Family Reunion works to ensure that the 200 year long legacy of Ma Jane Gardner continues for generations to come.