NOTE from DearMYRTLE: The following was just received from our friends at the National Archives (US). Please address all inquiries to Public.Affairs@nara.gov. [Embedded video added.]
National Archives Shares Rarely-seen Slave Petitions from DC Emancipation Act
Emancipation documents offer rare glimpse into slaves’ lives for Act’s 150th anniversary
WASHINGTON, DC. . . In commemoration of the 150th
Anniversary of the DC Emancipation Act, the National Archives today
shared rarely seen original records pertaining to the Act, including
petitions from slaves in Washington, DC. National
Archives archivists Damani Davis and Robert Ellis, and University of
Nebraska-Lincoln scholar Kenneth Winkle discuss the significance of
these documents in the National Archives “Inside the Vaults” video short
at http://tiny.cc/DCEmanc.
In
the video, archivist Damani Davis discusses the petitions filed by
owners and enslaved persons under the Act and the details they reveal
about the enslaved African-American community at the time. Archivist Robert Ellis explains how the process worked. And
Kenneth Winkle of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), explains
how the UNL scholars have scanned, transcribed, and made these petitions
available online at the UNL Civil War Washington website (www.civilwardc.org).
The film series is free to view and distribute on YouTube channel at http://tiny.cc/Vaults. These videos are in the public domain and not subject to any copyright restrictions. The National Archives encourages the free distribution of them.
“These petitions show a fuller portrait of the people who were slaves in the District. These
documents reveal information about who the slaves were, how they lived
and how slavery and emancipation changed their lives,” said Archivist of
the United States David S. Ferriero. “We are grateful to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for making these documents more accessible to the public.”
“Slaves
at this time were generally anonymous,” said Kenneth Winkle, UNL’s
Sorensen Professor of American History and co-director of the project.
“Now, with these petitions, they have documented lives that we can
interpret, study and share with scholars, students and the public. We
can tell their story, which has been largely overlooked. And it is a
remarkable story.”
Background on the DC Emancipation Act
More
than eight months before the Emancipation Proclamation broke the
bondage of slavery across the South, a much more singularly focused
experiment in equality was playing out in the country’s capital. The
Compensated Emancipation Act, signed in April 1862, ordered all slaves
in the District of Columbia to be freed. It was the first time the U.S.
government had officially liberated any group of slaves – and unlike
the Emancipation Proclamation, it permitted their former masters to
petition the government for compensation in exchange for their slaves’
freedom.
Though
controversial, the act produced exceptionally rare documentation of the
era: Namely, reimbursement petitions that showed the names, ages,
histories and descriptions of an entire community of 3,200
African-Americans. These records
contain personal information such as names, ages, physical
descriptions, and places of residence, as well as collateral information
casually provided in recorded testimonies. These
records also contain difficult truths – because the forms were used to
establish a slave’s value for compensation, they share physical details
that often underscore the brutality of slavery.
The original act, signed by President Lincoln, is on loan to the Capitol Visitor Center through September 9, 2012.
About the National Archives
The National Archives and Records Administration, an independent federal agency, is the nation's record keeper. Founded in 1934, its mission is unique -- to serve American democracy by safeguarding and preserving the records of our Government, ensuring that the people can discover, use, and learn from this documentary heritage. The National Archives ensures continuing access to the essential documentation of the rights of American citizens and the actions of their government. It supports democracy, promotes civic education, and facilitates historical understanding of our national experience. The National Archives meets a wide range of information needs, among them helping people to trace their families' history, making it possible for veterans to prove their entitlement to medical and other benefits, and preserving original White House records. The National Archives carries out its mission through a nationwide network of archives, records centers, and Presidential Libraries, and on the Internet at http://www.archives.gov/.
The National Archives and Records Administration, an independent federal agency, is the nation's record keeper. Founded in 1934, its mission is unique -- to serve American democracy by safeguarding and preserving the records of our Government, ensuring that the people can discover, use, and learn from this documentary heritage. The National Archives ensures continuing access to the essential documentation of the rights of American citizens and the actions of their government. It supports democracy, promotes civic education, and facilitates historical understanding of our national experience. The National Archives meets a wide range of information needs, among them helping people to trace their families' history, making it possible for veterans to prove their entitlement to medical and other benefits, and preserving original White House records. The National Archives carries out its mission through a nationwide network of archives, records centers, and Presidential Libraries, and on the Internet at http://www.archives.gov/.
About Civil War Washington
Civil War Washington is UNL's interdisciplinary digital project examining the nation's capital during the pivotal Civil War period. Created by Susan Lawrence, Kenneth Price, and Kenneth Winkle of the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities
at UNL, this project allows users to study, visualize, and theorize the
complex changes in the city of Washington, DC, between 1860 and 1865
through a collection of datasets, images, texts, and maps. The site
illustrates how Washington and its people responded in dramatic and
distinctive ways to the four years of war.
The Compensated Emancipation Act project, part of Civil War Washington,
was made possible through a three-year, $220,000 National Endowment for
the Humanities grant to examine how race, slavery and emancipation
affected the capital during the war. For more information, contact Steve Smith, UNL University Communications, at 402-472-4226, or ssmith13@unl.edu.
What a great site through our University of Nebraska. Be sure to click through and check out this wonderful contribution to the Civil War/Slave Era. UNL does do awesome work in our historical preservation. Thanks to Myrt for posting this!
ReplyDeleteCheri Hopkins
Alliance, Nebraska