DC Celebrates Emancipation Day
The enslaved people in Washington, DC were freed nine months before President Abraham Lincoln issued his famous Emancipation Proclamation, telegraphing the eventual end of slavery to the rest of the nation. On April 16 1862, President Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act, For the release of certain persons held to service or labor in the District of Columbia, making DC residents the "First Freed" by the federal government.
Emancipation Day celebrations were held annually from 1866 (pictured at right) through 1901, and resumed in 2002. In 2005 Emancipation Day was made an official public holiday in the District of Columbia. Each year, a series of educational and commemorative activities is held during the week prior to the holiday that celebrates the end of slavery in Washington, DC.
In 2007, Mayor Adrian Fenty dedicated Emancipation Day to the continued struggle for full Democracy in Washington, DC with a Voting Rights March to the United States Capitol demanding equal representation in Congress.
