By David J. Kent
Washington, D.C.
Friday, April 8, 2022
Lincoln Group of DC president David J. Kent will speak on Wednesday, April 13th at 6:30 pm as part of the ongoing DC Emancipation Day program. His topic will be "Lincoln's Role in the DC Emancipation Act of 1862." The presentation is part of a series of programs in commemoration of the 160th anniversary of DC Emancipation, signed into law on April 16, 1862, by President Abraham Lincoln.
The events are sponsored by the District of Columbia and Mayor Muriel Bowser’s DC Emancipation Day Commemoration Commission. The presentation week will culminate in the annual Emancipation Day parade.
The event is FREE and anyone can register at this link.
Lincoln had a long history that led to DC Emancipation, followed by the prohibition of slavery in all the western territories, which was in turn followed by the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th amendment. Lincoln Group members would have seen an article discussing this history in the December 2020 Lincolnian newsletter. If you don't have that issue handy, you can read the article in full here.
Kent joins a distinguished list of speakers at this year's celebration. Historian C.R. Gibbs spoke on DC's early years on April 4th; John Muller and J.R. McNeil spoke on Frederick Douglass's years in DC on April 7th; and further events can be found on the Executive Office of the Mayor's Eventbrite site.
All interested Lincoln Group members (and non-members) are invited to attend this free lecture. Register at this link.