Emancipation Nation Watch Party September 17, 2012

On September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued a preliminary proclamation that ordered the emancipation of slaves in states that did not return to Union control by January 1, 1863. On the 150th anniversary of that Emancipation Proclamation, the Virginia Historical Society (VHS) is hosting an Emancipation Nation Watch Party.
As part of the National Endowment for the Humanities sponsored event, Emancipation Nation: Celebrating Freedom on Constitution Day, the VHS and The American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar are co-presenting an Emancipation Nation Watch Party.
Watch parties will be held at satellite locations across the country. These events are modeled after gatherings held by slaves and abolitionists on the eve of the Emancipation Proclamation becoming law. The watch party at the VHS is the only Richmond-area viewing that is free and open to the general public.
This event will feature a live-streamed panel of five Civil War scholars simulcast from the Smithsonian Museum of American History. Without drawing on their knowledge of what would unfold over the next months and years, the historians will recreate the national scene and the dilemmas facing Americans in September 1862.
Following the program, VHS historians will discuss Virginia’s connections to emancipation.