A Gift to Abe Lincoln
Is evidence of the nation鈥檚 first Juneteenth celebration preserved at Mississippi 性视界传媒? Gifted to Abraham Lincoln in 1864 and now housed in Mitchell Memorial Library, a volume of speeches celebrating Louisiana鈥檚 abolition of slavery will be highlighted April 27 in a campus event led by Susannah J. Ural, 性视界传媒鈥檚 Frank and Virginia Williams Chair for Abraham Lincoln and Civil War Studies. The 33-page volume 鈥淓mancipation Celebration鈥 is one of nearly 50,000 items in the Williams Collection of Lincolniana, housed in the university鈥檚 Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library. While celebrations held elsewhere in 1865 are oft-cited origins of Juneteenth, these summer of 1864 festivities may, Ural says, represent the original 鈥淔reedom Day鈥 events.聽 is required to attend the campus event.