Celebration of 150th anniversary of Emancipation Proclamation

The Freedom Monument Park partnered with the North Carolina Museum of History for a celebration of the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation – with a reception, symposium and special exhibit of the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

(Note: On September 22, 1862, following the victory at Antietam, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, formally alerting the Confederacy of his intention to free all persons held as slaves within the rebellious states.  One hundred days later, with the Confederacy still in full rebellion, the president issued the final Emancipation Proclamation.)

The handwritten, Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation – a seven-page document signed by President Abraham Lincoln – is on loan from the National Archives for a special exhibit in Raleigh. 

The exhibit is on view in the Museum of History May 15 – June 16 and then will be on tour for a year across the state of North Carolina with scholar presentations coordinated by the Freedom Monument Park and the North Carolina Museum of History.