Friday, August 1 2025

Local leaders and members of the black community today celebrated the 149th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.

The document, signed by President Abraham Lincoln declared all slaves free today , the Rev. Ina Culp Harris paid tribute to the civil rights pioneers of the 20th century.

[audio: 0102-Harris-A.mp3]

Today’s event was held by the Rock Hill chapter of the NAACP.

 

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The Rock Hill Branch of the NAACP is celebrating the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation at Saint Matthews AME Zion Church on Lige Street in Rock Hill.

The speaker for the annual emancipation program is Reverend Ina Culp Harris, pastor of the Chestnut Grove AME Zion Church in Chester.

President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1st, 1863.

It declared that all people held as slaves within a state should be free.

On New Year’s Day 1863, black and white abolitionists gathered in churches in free states to await the news that Lincoln had signed the final document.

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