President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states

"are, and henceforward shall be free."

Quote: The Emancipation Proclamation. https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured-documents/emancipation-proclamation. National Archives and Records Administration, Date accessed December 28, 2020.

St. Augustine Days of Jubilee

Note: Due to the sporadic preservation of St. Augustine newspapers before 1899, reports of Emancipation Day celebrations are few and far between during that time.

Created by:

Charles Tingley, Senior Research Librarian

and

Nicole Diehm, Digital Collections Librarian