Soul Circuit | Juneteenth Rodeos in Texas

Beginning August 13, the Bastrop County Museum & Visitor Center will present Soul Circuit: Juneteenth Rodeos in Texas, an exhibition created by Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, in partnership with the Tom Lea Institute.

Soul Circuit: Juneteenth Rodeos in Texas honors the underappreciated cowboys and cowgirls of a particular time and place through images by photographer Sarah Bird. In the late 1970s, a time when rodeo competitors with ranch backgrounds were more the rule than the exception, Black communities throughout Texas held local rodeos for cowboys and cowgirls excluded from the mainstream, white-sponsored circuits.

Known as the “Soul Circuit,” this thriving network of small-town rodeos played a crucial role in perpetuating and sustaining the more than two-hundred-year lineage of Black cowboys in America. These jubilant occasions, particularly Juneteenth rodeos, celebrated fellowship, community, and victories both in and out of the arena.

The exhibit officially starts on August 13, but members get a special preview on the night of August 10!