RSS FeedDC Emancipation Day Event Tomorrow At MLK
Wednesday, April 16, is DC Emancipation Day. What is that you ask? From the DC government website:
The holiday commemorates the day in 1862 that President Abraham Lincoln signed the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, which ended slavery in the District of Columbia and freed more than 3,000 slaves. This act was passed nine months before President Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. It was the first time that the government of the United States acted formally to abolish slavery and telegraphed the eventual end of slavery to the rest of the country.
And, you can read the actual text of the Act for yourself at the National Archives web site here. In celebration, a number of events are taking place around town including one tomorrow at lunchtime at our very own MLK Library.
In celebration, the D.C. Office of the Mayor and the Humanities Council of Washington, DC will host a panel discussion highlighting the disconnect between the “Hip-Hop” and “Civil Rights” generations featuring Professor Griff of Public Enemy. The resounding question being asked is: Does the Hip-Hop generation of today, have a lack of understanding and/or respect for the Civil Rights generation of yesterday, and how will this disconnect affect the global generation of tomorrow?
We’ll let you read the rest of the press release and discover other planned events on the DC Government website here.
WHAT: 2008 Washington, DC Emancipation Day Panel Discussion
WHEN: April 14, 2008
TIME: 12 Noon to 2pm
WHERE: Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library (901 G Street NW)
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
I wasn’t aware of a separate DC proclamation. Good to know.
The Emancipation Proclamation only freed the slaves in the south while maintaining slavery in the North and border states with the hope to spark a slave uprising in the South. Slavery was still allowed in union controlled states until the 13th Amendment was ratified – after Lincoln’s death.
It’s interesting that the one exception to this was DC.
thanks DC tour guide!
further factoids about DC’s Emancipation Proclamation can be found here.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
The actual DC Emancipation document is on display at the Archives until April 30. The signature of Lincoln is the last line of the document. The display case is in the east end of the rotunda, just after you exit from the Declaration of Independence and head down to the gift shop.
The Archives are open until 7PM each day now until the end of summer. Enjoy!!!