Lincoln's Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation
October 27, 2012
NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 1,
2012
For More Information,
Contact:
Debra Jacobson
Director, Marketing
& Community Affairs
Rochester Museum &
Science Center
(585) 697-1944 • www.rmsc.org
State Education Department
Announces Exhibit Featuring
LINCOLN'S PRELIMINARY EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION
Exhibition to Travel Statewide to Mark 150th
Anniversary
Rochester Museum & Science Center Hosts for 2 Days
Only – Extended Hours!
The New York State Museum, a division of the New York State Education
Department, has organized an exhibition to mark the sesquicentennial of Abraham
Lincoln's Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, on display Saturday, October
27 (9am – 9pm) and Sunday, October 28 (11am – 8pm), at the Rochester Museum
& Science Center's Eisenhart Auditorium, Rochester, NY. The exhibition, entitled The First Step to
Freedom: Abraham Lincoln's Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, will
travel to eight cities across New York State this fall. The exhibition will offer an
unprecedented display of the only surviving version of the document in
Lincoln's handwriting and will include historical background and interpretation
of the document. The First Step
to Freedom will also include the manuscript of a speech written and
delivered in New York City in September 1962 by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. for the Proclamation's centennial.
"The Preliminary
Emancipation Proclamation is the first documented account by Lincoln of what
was to become one of the greatest achievements in American history," states New
York Regent T. Andrew Brown. "The emancipation of slaves set into motion a
course of events forever changing our nation, giving new hope, not only to
Blacks but to all honorable Americans."
"This is a rare
opportunity for this community to see in person the most profoundly important
document since the Declaration of Independence was signed," comments RMSC Board
of Trustees Chair, Andrew Meloni.
"It is extremely
appropriate for this exhibit to be hosted at the Rochester Museum & Science
Center, as Rochester was home to Frederick Douglass for many years," said New
York State Regent Wade S. Norwood, Director of Community Engagement, Finger
Lakes Health Systems Agency (FLHSA). "It was a city from which he did most of
the agitation and advocacy that led to the Emancipation Proclamation and
contributed to what Lincoln would call, a year later, our nation's "new birth
of Freedom."
"America was born with the declaration that all men are
created equal," State Education Commissioner John B. King, Jr. said, "but
it took almost 100 years after our nation's founding -- until President
Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, the Union
achieved victory and the 13th, 14th, and 15th
Amendments were added to the U.S. Constitution -- to
begin to make that declaration a reality for people of African descent brought
here as slaves.
"Fifty years ago, commemorating
the centennial of its signing, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke of the
importance of the Emancipation Proclamation. He argued that the Emancipation
Proclamation proved government could be a powerful force for social
justice, but the promise of equality remained unfulfilled. And today, as we
celebrate the 150th anniversary, the Proclamation is an important
reminder that America is still a work in progress."
Commissioner King, who co-authored the
exhibit text, noted the exhibition incorporates
collections and images from the New York State Library and the New York State
Archives. He said the
documents stand as important markers in the path to freedom and equality for
African Americans and are among New York State's greatest treasures.
Lincoln's handwritten
Preliminary Proclamation, issued one hundred fifty years ago in the midst of
the Civil War, is the only surviving copy of this document in Lincoln's own
handwriting. Lincoln donated it to
the U.S. Sanitary Commission, which raffled the document at an Albany Army
Relief Association Fair in 1864. It was later purchased by the New York State
Legislature.
Although Lincoln's
handwritten final Emancipation Proclamation burned in the Chicago fire in 1871,
the Preliminary Proclamation survived the State Capitol fire of 1911 and has
been preserved by the State Library.
Dr. Khalil Muhammad, the Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in
Black Culture, and Harold Holzer, the award-winning Lincoln historian,
co-authored the exhibit's text with Commissioner King.
"This 150th anniversary exhibition presents a very special occasion to
bear witness to a transformative moment in American history," Dr. Muhammad
said.
"This unique freedom document did nothing less than change the Civil
War--and change American history," Harold Holzer said. "In a very
real way, this one-of-a-kind relic testifies not only to Lincoln's resolve to
expand freedom, but New York's resolve to preserve it."
On September 12, 1962, civil rights leader Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered the speech contained in the exhibition to the New York State Civil War Centennial
Commission.
The two documents--both
in the collections of the New York State Education Department's Office of
Cultural Education--will go on display for the first time together to mark the
150th anniversary of one of American history's defining moments. The First Step to Freedom: Abraham
Lincoln's Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation exhibition was designed and
developed by the New York State Museum using collections and images from the
New York State Library and the New York State Archives. A website with an
online exhibition, and providing additional materials supporting the exhibition,
including an iBook for download, and education guide is available at http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/ep/.
A related exhibit, An Irrepressible Conflict: The Empire State in the Civil War,
commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, opens
September 22 at the New York State Museum in Albany. This 6,500-square-foot exhibition chronicles the pivotal
role New York State played in the war and will be open through September 22,
2013.
Emancipation Proclamation Press Images
Preliminary
Emancipation Proclamation Flyer
The First Step to Freedom:
Abraham Lincoln's Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation
Exhibition Schedule
September 21 - 24 New
York City Schomburg
Center for Research in Black Culture
September 27 Syracuse The
Oncenter (Host: Onondaga Historical Assn)
October 5 - 6 Buffalo Burchfield
Penney Art Center
October 15 - 16 Long
Island Tilles
Center for the Performing Arts at LIU Post
October 19 Plattsburgh Plattsburgh
State Art Museum
October 27 - 28 Rochester Rochester
Museum & Science Center
November 1 Binghamton Roberson
Museum & Science Center
November 9 - 10 Albany New
York State Museum
Visit
EngageNY.org
Follow
the Commissioner on Twitter: @JohnKingNYSED
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