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. |
Historians Dr. Chris Myers Asch and Dr. G. Derek Musgrove moderate a conversation with Dr. Frank Smith, civil rights activist and a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and Dr. Alphonse G. Hill, former Deputy Mayor for Finance during the Barry administration.
