Charleston, S.C., will hold its 153rd Annual Emancipation Day Celebration tonight and tomorrow. The festivities mark the January 1, 1863 signing of the Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln. The first such celebration was held in 1866 after Union troops liberated the city from control by slavehoders.
Here are some events you may want to attend if you are in the area for the New Year, accroding to the Charleston City Paper:
On Tues. Dec. 31, Morris Brown AME Church (13 Morris St.) will hold its annual “Watch Night,” a daytime extension of historic observance, presented with the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, the International African American Museum, Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, and the city. The public is invited to participate from 12-2 p.m. with singing, African dance, poetry, and other sacred traditions carried on by Gullah Geechee communities around S.C. The Emancipation Day parade in downtown Charleston, another historic piece of the annual tradition, starts on Jan. 1 at 9:30 a.m. at Burke High School and continues on Sumter Street toward King and Calhoun streets toward Emanuel AME Church.
You can find information on the December 31 Watch Service here.
Follow Reconstruction Blog on Social Media:
