The Juneteenth holiday, marking the end of slavery, will be celebrated in Springfield with a special display at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.
The institution’s copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, signed by Abraham Lincoln, will be on display in the presidential library from June 19th to the 23, and the 26 through the 30th. There is no charge for admission to the library to see the historic document.
In addition, on June 19, the library and museum will launch a new interactive online tool, where users can see an annotated version of the proclamation and click on keywords to get important historical information and context about it.
Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves, on January 1, 1863, but it couldn’t be enforced until Union troops recaptured Southern territory.
Juneteenth marks the arrival of federal troops in Galveston, Texas, in June 1865, viewed as the symbolic end of slavery.
