DC Emancipation Day 2012 Events

On April 16, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act, granting freedom to 3,100 enslaved persons in the District of Columbia. The act passed nine months before Lincoln’s famous Emancipation Proclamation and granted freedom to enslaved persons in the District of Columbia as the country's first freed from the institution of slavery. In 2005, DC Emancipation Day was made an official public holiday. Each year, educational and commemorative activities are held celebrating the end of slavery in the nation’s capital.

The year 2012 marks the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Act and includes a year-long celebration of educational and cultural events and activities throughout the city.

Schedule of Events

President Lincoln's Cottage
April 15, 2012, 2:30 - 4:30 p.m. Rock Creek Church Rd and Upshur St. NW Washington, DC. This free outdoor public program will feature noted Lincoln scholars and a musical program. Lincoln experts will include Harold Holzer, Dr. Edna Greene Medford, and the Honorable Frank Williams. The speakers will discuss Lincoln's role in the DC Emancipation Act, the media reaction to the act, and the role of the citizens of DC. The program will take place on the south lawn of President Lincoln's Cottage. Lincoln lived in this property when he drafted the preliminary version of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Free in DC - Scavenger Hunt
April 16, 2012. A competitive city-wide mobile scavenger hunt will be held by Cultural Tourism DC in partnership with President Lincoln's Cottage, Ford's Theatre, and the Willard Intercontinental Hotel. Contestants will be taken to 11 sites around the city where they must complete challenges to rack up points for a chance to win prizes. The 30 competitors with the highest scores by the end of April 16 will receive gift bags courtesy of President Lincoln's Cottage and be entered into a drawing for the grand prize: a two-night stay at the Willard InterContinental Washington Hotel. The app will be available for download and use starting April 13 at www.scvngr.com.

Tudor Place Historic House and Garden
April 14, 2012, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. 1644 31st St. NW Washington, DC. An interactive experience of a Civil War camp with a tour on the grounds of the Tudor Place that includes featured interpreters dressed in costumes portraying Union and Confederate soldiers, enslaved workers, Union artillery units, and a discussion about the daily encounters of Civil War camp life in the District of Columbia.

Mayor's Emancipation Day Program
April 16, 2012. African American Civil War Memorial and Museum, U St. and Vermont Ave. NW Washington, DC. Panelists will discuss emancipation in the District of Columbia and compare the nexus between the struggle for emancipation and the struggle for full congressional representation, and statehood in the District of Columbia.

Emancipation Parade
Monday, April 16, 2012 - 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, between 3rd St. and 13 1/2 St. DC hosts a parade in honor the signing of the DC Compensated Emancipation Act of April 16, 1862, which freed 3,100 enslaved persons and ended slavery in DC. See Photos of the Parade

Emancipation Day Street Festival and Fireworks
Monday, April 16, 2012 - 11:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. Freedom Plaza, E Street, NW. For more information, call (202) 724-8174.

Capitol Visitor Center
The original DC Emancipation Act, signed by President Lincoln, is on loan to the Capitol Visitor Center and on display through September 9, 2012.