One hundred and fifty years ago on January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring “that all persons held as slaves” within the areas in rebellion against the Union “are, and henceforward shall be free.” To celebrate this sesquicentennial anniversary Cornell University Library will place its unique manuscript copy of this historic document signed by Lincoln on public display on Saturday, April 27, 2013.

An accompanying exhibition of associated materials, including several printed versions of the proclamation, related Civil War era engravings, and contemporary issues of Harper’s Weekly and Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper will be on on display in the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections on the 2B Level of Kroch Library from February 1 through April 30, 2013.

Special Events:

Saturday, April 27—Cornell University Library’s Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections will host an open house with curator tours of the exhibition Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation at 150. Cornell’s original manuscript copy of the Emancipation Proclamation signed by Lincoln will be on public display one more time before the exhibition closes at the end of April.

Related Online Exhibitions:

Image: “Reading the Emancipation Proclamation.” Engraved by J.W. Watte, after a drawing by H. W. Herrick. Hartford: Lucius Stebbins, 1864.