When Emancipation Day falls on a Saturday, the holiday is celebrated on Friday. All offices are closed today in Washington, DC.
April 13, 2016
By Rachel Kurzius
April 13, 2016
By Rachel Kurzius
It'll be 154 years (click here) since legislation freed 3,185 District of Columbia slaves on April 16, 1862, more than eight months before President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Yet D.C. still doesn't have full representation.
"We honor the many champions who have fought for civil rights and equality," said Mayor Muriel Bowser on a sunny morning in Freedom Plaza, with the Capitol in view, "as we renew our push for full democracy and statehood."
Flanked by At-large Councilmember Vincent Orange, D.C. shadow Senators Paul Strauss and Michael Brown, senior advisor Beverly Perry, and D.C. Secretary of State Lauren Vaughan, Bowser announced the activities for upcoming Emancipation Day, which last decade became a legal public holiday in the District. And, in what has become one of the holiday's traditions, the mayor made the case for why statehood remains a priority....
