What is Emancipation Day?The DC Compensated Emancipation Act of 1862 ended slavery in Washington, DC, freed 3,100 individuals, reimbursed those who had legally owned them and offered the newly freed women and men money to emigrate. It is this legislation, and the courage and struggle of those who fought to make it a reality, that we commemorate every April 16, DC Emancipation Day. |
Join historians Marjorie Lightman and William Zeisel as they trace the history of the University of the District of Columbia back to 1851, when Myrtilla Miner established a teacher-training school for free black women.
