Western Sanitary Commission

  • April 14th

    April 14th

    Originally called the Freedom Memorial, the Emancipation Memorial, still stands today in Lincoln Park, in Washington, D.C. The Memorial to President Abraham Lincoln, dedicated on April 14, 1876, was the first memorial to Lincoln erected by the formerly enslaved in grateful appreciation for the Emancipation Proclamation. The enslaved man seen with Lincoln was a real…

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  • Emancipation Memorial

    Emancipation Memorial

    As we celebrate Juneteenth, we must recall the reason. The Emancipation Memorial was erected in 1876, by the formerly enslaved, and freedom seekers, to “the best friend the colored people ever had” President Abraham Lincoln. The man with Lincoln is freedom seeker Archer Alexander… read more

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  • Abolitionist William Greenleaf Eliot

    His early years in St. Louis would soon find him caught between the two forces of the rising conflict regarding the issues of enslavement…

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  • Free At Last

    Free At Last

    After a life of enslavement, on September 24th, 1863, Archer Alexander was free at last! Nine months earlier, the freedom seeker had made a run for freedom that had nearly cost him his life. In January, Archer was visiting his wife Louisa at Naylor’s Store, where she was enslaved, when he overheard his owner and…

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  • The Emancipation Monument

    The Emancipation Monument

    The Emancipation Monument “Freedom’s Memorial” was paid for entirely by funds from the formerly enslaved. It sits in Lincoln Park in Washington, D.C. today. It was dedicated by Frederick Douglass on April 14, 1876.

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