Emancipation Proclamation 150th Anniversary at the National ArchivesThe original Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Abraham Lincoln is in the holdings of the National Archives. To protect the document from light damage It is publicly displayed only a few days each year under extremely low light. In this video from the National Archives, senior archivist Reginald Washington and senior conservator Terry Boone discuss the document's significance, its history and measures taken to preserve it.
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Emancipation Proclamation Library of Congress Primary Documents in American History |
Disney's Abraham Lincoln |
The Emancipation Strategy
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DC Emancipation Act (US National Archives)
On April 16, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed into law the D.C. Emancipation Act, freeing enslaved persons in Washington, DC. Their owners were compensated by the U.S. Treasury Department. In this Inside the Vaults video short, Documentary Archivist Damani Davis discusses the petitions filed by owners and slaves under the Act and the details they reveal about the enslaved African-American community at the time. Archivist Robert Ellis explains how the process worked.
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