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#Emancipation Proclamation
alwaysbewoke · 23 hours
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In 1865, enslaved people in Texas were notified by Union Civil War soldiers about the abolition of slavery. This was 2.5 years after the final Emancipation Proclamation which freed all enslaved Black Americans. But Slavery Continued… In 1866, a year after the amendment was ratified, Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Florida, Tennessee, and South Carolina began to lease out convicts for labor. This made the business of arresting black people very lucrative, thus hundreds of white men were hired by these states as police officers. Their primary responsibility being to search out and arrest black peoples who were in violation of ‘Black Codes’ Basically, black codes were a series of laws criminalizing legal activity for black people. Through the enforcement of these laws, they could be imprisoned. Once arrested, these men, women & children would be leased to plantations or they would be leased to work at coal mines, or railroad companies. The owners of these businesses would pay the state for every prisoner who worked for them; prison labor. It’s believed that after the passing of the 13th Amendment, more than 800,000 Black people were part of that system of re-enslavement through the prison system. The 13th Amendment declared that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." Lawmakers used this phrase to make petty offenses crimes. When Blacks were found guilty of committing these crimes, they were imprisoned and then leased out to the same businesses that lost slaves after the passing of the 13th Amendment. The majority of White Southern farmers and business owners hated the 13th Amendment because it took away slave labor. As a way to appease them, the federal government turned a blind eye when southern states used this clause in the 13th Amendment to establish the Black Codes.
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usnatarchives · 9 months
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Shogan Announces Plans for Permanent Emancipation Proclamation Display 📜
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On Saturday, June 17, 2023, Archivist of the United States Dr. Colleen Shogan was honored to announce that the National Archives intends to place the Emancipation Proclamation on permanent display inside the Rotunda, joining our nation's foundational documents alongside the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.
Dr. Shogan made the special announcement on Saturday just before General Orders No. 3 and the Emancipation Proclamation went on public display through June 19.
The National Archives will begin an assessment to determine the best display environment, considering the condition and importance of the original document.
The current plan for display calls for showing one side of the Emancipation Proclamation, a double-sided five-page document, alongside facsimiles of the reverse pages. The original pages on display will be rotated on a regular basis to limit light exposure.
Watch the full announcement on our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/p/CtmMzyjAUmR/?hl=en
Learn about the Emancipation Proclamation and General Order No. 3: https://museum.archives.gov/featured-document-display-emancipation-proclamation-and-juneteenth
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53v3nfrn5 · 13 days
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Carriages decorated in flowers celebrating “Juneteenth” (June 19, 1913)
Since 1865, June 19th has been the annual Day of Jubilee marking the end of slavery in America. While the official date was marked with the enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, the news was not heard in Texas until June 19, 1865. Celebrations broke out spontaneously and the day became a yearly event.
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sentonix · 2 years
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Happy Juneteenth!
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todaysdocument · 1 year
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“Freedom To Slaves! . . . , I therefore hereby notify the citizens of the city of Winchester, and of said county of [the Emancipation] Proclamation, and of my intention to maintain and confirm the same.” Brig. Gen. Milroy, 1/5/1863. 
Record Group 109: War Department Collection of Confederate Records
Series: Letters and Telegrams Received by General Robert E. Lee
Transcription:
[blue stamp in upper left corner titled War Records   Copied  1861-1865]
Freedom To Slaves!
Whereas the President of the United States did
on the final day of the present month, issue
his Proclamation dictating "that all persons held
as slaves in certain designated States, and parts
of States, are henceforward and shall be free
and that the Executive Command of the United
States, including the military and naval au-
thorities thereof, would recognize and maintain
the freedom of said persons.
And whereas the county of Frederick is in
cluded in the territory designated by the Proc
lamation of the President, in which the slaves
should become free,I therefore hereby notify
the citizens of the city of Winchester, and of
said county of said Proclamation, and of my
intention to maintain and confirm the same.
I expect all citizens to yield a ready compli-
ance with the Proclamation of the Chief Exec-
utive, and I admonish all persons disposed to
resist its peaceful enforcement, that [illegible]
manifesting such disposition by acts, they will
be regarded as rebels in arms against the law-
ful authority of the Federal Government and
dealt with accordingly.
All persons liberated by said Proclamation are ad-
monished to abstain from all violence, and imme-
diately betake themselves to useful occupation.
The officers of this command are admonished and
ordered to act in accordance with said proclama-
tion and to yield their ready cooperation in its
enforcement.
                   R. H. Milroy
                   Brig. Gen. Commanding
Jany 5th 1863
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The World Changed 161 Years Ago Today
The Civil War defined us as what we are and it opened us to being what we became good and bad things. It was the crossroads of our being, and it was a hell of a crossroads. - Shelby Foote
Less than a week ago, the world remembered the twenty-second anniversary of 9/11 and no matter the radio station, TV program, or sporting event all took time to pause and remember and even New York City’s Fashion Week is paying tribute. It is well and good that we honor that day, the lives lost, and how it changed the world, the shock and horror of the attacks coupled with the heroism of those who rushed in where everyone was trying to run out plus those who fought back over Pennsylvania. Today is another anniversary in American history. This is a day that changed the country forever and cost more lives than 9/11, yet it is unlikely anyone will see one news story about it, no sporting events will take a moment for reflection, and certainly, no fashion show will remember it. One hundred and sixty-one years ago in the countryside of Maryland outside of the small village
of Sharpsburg along the banks of Antietam Creek, 113,000 men fought a battle that changed the United States forever.
The battle started shortly before 5:30 a.m. on the right-hand side of the Union battle line when Northern soldiers advanced on Southern positions believed to be just beyond a fully grown cornfield near a small white church. This church was the gathering place of a German-American pacifist denomination, called the “Dunkards” by locals, as the congregation would submerge or “dunk” new members in Antietam Creek. The church looks more like a schoolhouse as this sect believed a steeple immodest. As the Union soldiers advanced towards the cornfield, officers noticed the shiny glint of bayonets among the corn stalks, and the epic struggle began. The fighting seesawed back and forth with each side charging, taking positions, and then being forced back when the other side countercharged. By 10 that morning little territory had changed hands but the armies on both sides in this area were spent and this section of the battlefield grew quiet. While this part of the battle lasted just four and a half hours, over 13,000 were casualties. A soldier after the battle said the corn stalks were cut down with bullets and shells so close to the ground that one could not have done it better with the sharpest of knives.
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The sketch is from Battles and Leaders of the Civil War 1887, p. 687, and the cornfield as it is today from the New York Monument. ©CWTK
As the roar of war died down to their right, the Union soldiers positioned near the center of the battle line prepared to enter the fray. The area where this fighting occurred is compact in size, roughly eight soccer pitches in size. Here the Confederate troops had taken a position along an age-old wagon road that years of rain and use wore away the earth causing the road to be five feet below ground level. This “sunken road” offered ideal concealment and the Union troops attacked in wave after wave. Each attack melted away as snow does when it falls on the warm ground. Eventually, remnants of the famed Union Irish Brigade who were trapped on the battlefield by this murderous position found a way to bring their guns to bear on the sunken road creating such carnage this section of the battlefield is now called Bloody Lane. One of the many ironies of the Civil War is that the Northern troops who fought here were primarily of Irish background and the Southerners in the Bloody Lane were Irish as well. The Union forces were able to finally capture the sunken road but like before, they were not able to hold the positions gained. By 1 pm this area of the battle had grown calm and both sides were back in the positions they were in when the fighting started. Causalities now numbered over 19,000.
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The Sunken Road ©CWTK
While the battle for Bloody Lane was concluding, on the far left, Union General Ambrose Burnside (best known for his unique facial hair that created a fashion trend that is still with us today, sideburns) set about forcing the Confederate forces facing him to retreat. Although Burnside had a great numerical superiority in men 12,500 to 3,500, the defenders were located on a hilltop with Antietam Creek between them and Burnside’s men. The creek was deep and the only way the Union troops could cross was on a stone bridge just over twelve feet wide. Even though they knew what they were facing, the Union men formed their lines, marched to, and attempted to cross the bridge while shot and shell rained down from the hill. For three long and horrific hours, the Union tried and retried crossing the stone bridge with each attempt failing. Finally, enterprising soldiers discovered a shallow section of the Antietam downstream shielded from view allowing them to wade across and finally capture the hill. This success was short-lived as Southern reinforcements arrived and pushed the nearly victorious soldiers of Burnside’s command back to near where their day started.
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The stone (Burnside) bridge over Antietam Creek ©CWTK 
It is now just after 5:30 pm and the battle has essentially ended. After nearly twelve hours of bloodshed, the battle has left 3,650 dead, 17,300 wounded and 1,770 missing for a total of 22,720 casualties. Twenty percent of the men that went into battle that day were wounded or dead. The story does not end here for those unlucky souls who were wounded as modern medicine of that time required the amputation of limbs when an arm or leg was struck by a bullet. The ammunition used at the time was made from soft lead, unlike the modern steel jacketed rounds that ‘clip’ bone possibly allowing leg/arm wounds to heal, the soft lead destroyed bone and tissue leaving the surgeons no choice but to amputate. Those who received wounds to their arms or legs were far luckier than those who received a wound to their core. That same soft lead that would destroy bones would severely damage internal organs and the doctors did not yet have the knowledge or tools to repair such trauma. Soldiers at the time called it being “gut shot” and knew it was a death sentence (often a painful and very slow process that could take days to weeks). This is why if you see photographs of the Civil War dead, it will often look as though someone has rummaged through the dead soldiers' clothing in search of valuables. This was the wounded men themselves ripping away their clothing frantically looking and hoping the wound they received would not mean death. Since even state-of-the-art medical care then was crude and unsterile, twenty-two percent of those wounded later died of their wounds. When the dead on the field of battle are combined with those soldiers whose battle for life ended at a hospital, this day cost 7,456 lives.
This battle produced three significant impacts that touch every American even today. 
First, the American Civil War occurred as the art of photography was developing.  Alexander Gardner, a Scottish immigrant, became well known as well as connected because he managed famed photographer Matthew Brady’s Washington DC gallery (In fact many of Gardner’s Civil War photographs were originally credited to Brady). Through his connections, Gardner became the staff photographer for the Union Army that fought at Antietam. While the cameras of this era did not have fast enough shutters to capture ‘action’ photographs, Gardner’s proximity and the wagon he converted into a traveling darkroom allowed him to record the first photographs of the war that the public had ever seen. Until these photographs were exhibited, the only images of war seen by the lion’s share of people were products of artists’ imaginations which often glorified combat. Starting with Antietam, images of war would no longer be from imaginations but would be told through the lenses of photojournalists.
Here are some of Gardner’s images from Antietam including the iconic photo of Bloody Lane.  He was able to gain access to the battlefield on September 19, 1862, two days after the battle.
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Below is Alexander Gardner’s famous “Bloody Lane” photograph:
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Another outcome of this battle was the Union victory at Antietam kept the world's superpowers, England and France, from involving themselves in the conflict. A quick history lesson for those who do not know, the United States was not a superpower in 1862. Until this point in the war, all the major battles fought in the Eastern Theater, roughly meaning near Washington DC, (Antietam is less than an hour and 1/2 drive from Capitol Hill even with notorious D.C. traffic) had resulted in Confederate victories. These repeated victories caused the governments of England and France to consider recognizing the Confederacy as an independent country, just as France had done for the Colonies during the American Revolution. France and England were considering this action primarily to get their massive textile factories producing again and bring large numbers of their citizens back to work. The South’s cotton was the raw material that fed huge mills and the Union blockade as well as the South’s decision to drastically limit exports had cut this flow of raw material off. Because of a lack of cotton, these massive mills were shuttered leaving thousands of their employees out of work. In England alone, job losses were around 60% in the textile industry, leaving approximately 295,000 unemployed and the majority of the unemployed being in Lancashire. There was no unemployment insurance at the time and the politicians had a large number of their constituents needing to return to work simply to feed their families. However, the resolve of the Union to repel this invasion led to England and France withholding recognition. Without foreign assistance, the Confederacy would struggle to acquire the provisions needed to wage war as well as develop and grow an economy. The failure to secure diplomatic status as an independent country was a death blow to hopes for the Confederacy.
Most Americans today when asked what caused the Civil War, will answer slavery and with most momentous events, simple one-word answers sound great but there is much more to the rest of the story. Slavery was the root cause and always an emotional undercurrent to the conflict however, if you asked the average Southerner what they were fighting for they would share that they were fighting for states’ rights, and in the North, the majority of the public felt they fought to preserve the Union. This view can be seen in President Lincoln’s open letter to newspaper editor Horace Greeley who had attacked him for not ending slavery: 
My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause.
An amazing note about this letter to Greeley, Lincoln wrote it on August 22, 1862, exactly one month after he had decided to issue the Emancipation Proclamation and was waiting for the correct time to release the proclamation. The pundits of the era attacked him for this saying this letter showed a lack of commitment to the abolition of slavery. What Lincoln was doing in reality was subtlety informing the public that when he released the proclamation it was part of the plan to save the Union and preserve the coalition of Unionists and Abolitionists in Congress working together.
On July 22, 1862, Abraham Lincoln summoned his cabinet for a meeting, which was a surprise to its members.  At this meeting, the President announced he had made up his mind to issue an Emancipation Proclamation and this was not up for debate. William Henry Seward, the Secretary of State and today best known for what was called Seward’s folly the purchase of Alaska from Russia offered a piece of advice by suggesting that Lincoln wait until the army had achieved a major victory because “such a proclamation ought to be borne on the bayonets of an advancing army, not dragged in the dust behind a retreating one”. Issuing the proclamation without achieving a substantial victory would give the English and French governments the impression Lincoln’s government was grasping at straws to retain power. Antietam was the victory that Abraham Lincoln needed to release the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.  The repulse of the invasion of Maryland provided him with the victory needed. Just five days after the victory at Antietam, President Lincoln announced the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation and that it would be formally issued on January 1, 1863.
“. . . on the first day of January . . . all persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” President Abraham Lincoln, preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, September 22, 1862“
For the full document, click here.
So as we go through our normal lives today, take a second and remember the battle that changed the world for the better. Because of the Battle of Antietam, one hundred and sixty-one years ago, photography gave us images of war’s terrible price for the first time, England and France stayed at arm’s length from the American Civil War, and allowed Abraham Lincoln to transform the war from a conflict about states’ rights/preserving the Union to a struggle to end slavery.
I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. - Abraham Lincoln
©CWTK2023
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worldwide-blackfolk · 9 months
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✊🏾
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Juneteenth is now a federal holiday and it's being recognized by more companies and states every year. Juneteenth is also being quickly commercialized as we saw with Walmart's Juneteenth ice cream fiasco and is in danger of just becoming another day off.
Cookouts and Juneteenth ceremonies will be everywhere this weekend, and that's okay. But let's not lose the meaning behind the holiday.
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tommy-288 · 1 year
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This day in history, on January 1st, 1863. 160 years ago the emancipation proclamation was signed. Saying all slaves in states of rebellion are free.
Jim Crow laws prevented African Americans from voting. Such as the grand father clause, poll tax, and literacy tests. And violence from the KKK strikes fear for people of color who were running for office.
It wasn’t until 1965 the Jim Crow laws were put to a stop, so African Americans can vote.
I thought I’d post this because we are so lucky to live in a time when all Americans can vote. It took a long while, my ancestors suffered a ton, but I’m so glad we made it. Many thanks for the people who gave their lives.
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Tucked away in an amendment to the FY2023 U.S. defense authorization bill is a rare instance of congressional bipartisanship and a tribute to U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant.
If approved, the measure would posthumously promote Grant to the rank of General of the Armies of the U.S., making him only the third person – along with John J. Pershing and George Washington – to be awarded the nation’s highest military honor.
As Executive Director of the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library, I believe that the promotion would be much more than a symbolic nod to a great military general. Rather, it would highlight the overlooked legacy of a man who fought to end the last vestiges of slavery.
OUTBREAK OF CIVIL WAR
During the Civil War, Grant rose to fame as a decisive leader who was willing to doggedly pursue Confederate armies and avoid retreat at all costs. He first gained his reputation for tenacity with Union victories at Shiloh, the Battles for Chattanooga and the Siege of Vicksburg.
Like most white Northerners, Grant signed up to fight for the Union – not for emancipation.
But by 1862, the freedom of enslaved African Americans had become vital to the Union war strategy, if not yet its cause.
A year before President Abraham Lincoln signed in 1863 the Emancipation Proclamation that freed enslaved people in the Confederate states, Grant oversaw the establishment of refugee, or contraband camps, throughout the Mississippi Valley. Those camps provided basic housing, food and work for Black men and women who had fled from slavery.
Grant also administered the enlistment of African American men into United States Colored Troops units during the Vicksburg campaign.
In March 1864, Lincoln appointed Grant to the rank of lieutenant general and ordered him to take on the Confederate Army in Virginia, a task at which numerous other Union leaders had failed.
At this point during the war, Grant assumed the role of chief strategist for the entire Union war effort. It took the next 13 months of fighting during the Overland campaign before Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox on April 9, 1865.
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In this illustration, Gen. Ulysses S, Grant, left, accepts the surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee. (Getty Images)
After the Federal victory, many Americans hailed Grant as the man who saved the Union.
But Grant was magnanimous in victory.
Multiple times during the war he honored the dignity of his defeated adversaries, most famously at Appomattox, where he did not require Lee to hand over his sword, as usually required. Grant also allowed Confederate officers to keep their sidearms and horses.
Lee appreciated Grant’s actions, remarking: “This will have the best possible effect upon the men … it will be very gratifying, and will do much toward conciliating our people.”
IMPACT OF THE ‘LOST CAUSE’
But after the war, the conciliatory feelings vanished.
Southern partisans constructed the narrative of the “Lost Cause.” It held that the root of the Civil War was not slavery, but the rights of states to control their own destinies. It further held that the Union victory had nothing to do with Confederate character or leadership, but rather the Union’s sheer numbers and superior resources.
In this Lost Cause narrative, Grant was seen as a bumbling butcher devoid of any meaningful strategic vision, who succeeded only by mercilessly throwing more soldiers at his enemy. It also revived the old rumors of his excessive drinking.
In this storyline, Grant’s foil was always the courtly gentleman, Robert E. Lee. The hagiography of Lee demanded Grant’s inferiority.
By the early 20th century, the Lost Cause was no longer isolated in the South and had spread across America. Crowds flocked to see the racist anti-Reconstruction “Birth of a Nation” in movie theaters, and during the World War I rush to build military bases, the Army named 10 of them after Confederate generals.
PRESIDENT GRANT’S FIGHT FOR EQUALITY
Grant served as President from 1869 to 1877 during a time when white Southerners proved hostile toward federal Reconstruction measures that sought equal rights for recently freed enslaved people.
Grant saw his role of enforcing these policies as an extension of his wartime duty and necessary to protect the gains of the Union victory, especially the newly established rights for African Americans.
He used the resources of the federal government to crush the Ku Klux Klan, established the Department of Justice to investigate civil rights abuses and signed the Civil Rights Act of 1875.
GRANT’S LATEST CAUSE
In recent years, the American public has questioned the Lost Cause and taken steps to mitigate its pervasiveness throughout the U.S.
Southerners themselves have chosen to remove Confederate leaders from town squares and state flags. The U.S. Army has established a Naming Commission to rebrand Confederate-named bases.
It is telling, too, that Grant’s Presidential Library is now located in Mississippi, a Deep South state he once conquered.
It remains to be seen whether the request made to elevate Grant’s rank by U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown of Ohio, a Democrat, and Roy Blunt of Missouri, a Republican – along with GOP U.S Rep. Ann Wagner – will be finally approved by Congress as part of the FY2023 National Defense Authorization Act.
Either way, in my view, a thoughtful reconsideration of Grant’s wartime and post-war contributions is long overdue.
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jazzdailyblog · 8 months
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We Insist! Freedom Now: Exploring the Revolutionary Jazz Album That Echoed Social Change
Introduction: Music has the power to transcend boundaries and become a vessel for social and political commentary. In the realm of jazz, the album “We Insist! Freedom Now” by Max Roach stands as an enduring masterpiece. Released in 1960, this avant-garde jazz album, featuring vocalist Abbey Lincoln, is a vocal-instrumental suite that delves into themes related to the Civil Rights Movement. With…
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profkew · 1 year
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ifelllikeastar · 2 years
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On this day~ September 22, 1862
President Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. It stated that all slaves held within rebel states would be free as of January 1, 1863.
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todaysdocument · 1 year
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Attorney General Robert Kennedy views the Emancipation Proclamation on display at the National Archives on 1/4/1963. 
Record Group 64: Records of the National Archives and Records Administration
Series: Historic Photograph File of National Archives Events and Personnel
Image description: Robert Kennedy stands very close to a museum exhibit case containing the Emancipation Proclamation. Several other people stand behind him and to the side, many with cameras.
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