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WPCNR CITY HALL CIRCUIT. REPRINTED FROM THE WPCNR NEWS ARCHIVES OF June 8, 2005:
New York State’s first-ever Juneteenth Celebration highlighted by a mammoth parade down Main Street beginning at 12 noon, followed by a Street Festival on Church Street and Martine Avenues will not only recognize the contributions of African-Americans to America, but will feature a historic display of an original copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, signed by the Great Emancipator, Abraham Lincoln.
Seth Kaller, one of the most respected American historic document dealers, will display a rare signed copy of The Emancipation Proclamation at White Plains’ first Juneteenth Heritage Parade and Festival at Barnes & Noble in the City Center across from City Hall.
The Emancipation Proclamation, signed by Abraham Lincoln, was displayed at Barnes and Noble . The exhibit, also displayed nine other documents relating to slavery, emancipation, and freedom, including original letters by Frederick Douglass, the noted oratorian and Lincoln opponent for President in 1859. The historic display was unveiled by White Plains Mayor Joseph Delfino.
Juneteenth commemorates the final implementation of The Emancipation Proclamation by the Union Army on June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas (almost two-and-a-half years after the proclamation was issued). The White Plains celebration included a parade beginning at noon on Mamaroneck Avenue, and a festival between Main and Court Streets. It was the biggest celebration of African American heritage in Westchester County.
“I am pleased that Seth Kaller has offered to participate in the Juneteenth Parade and Festival by displaying this historic document. The Juneteenth Parade and Festival is a celebration of African-American achievement, and promises to be a tremendous event here in our community,” stated Mayor Delfino.
According to Seth Kaller, president of Seth Kaller, Inc., “I am very pleased to be a part of this celebration. Without the Emancipation Proclamation, one could argue that America would not be the free and democratic country that it is today. I have to thank the City of White Plains and the Juneteenth organizers for providing this opportunity for people today to see a document that changed the world.”
Kaller is the leading collection builder of American historical documents and manuscripts. He has purchased and coordinated authentication of more than 50,000 documents during the past 17 years, including working drafts of the U.S. Constitution.
Lincoln signed them to benefit the troops.
Partial Exhibit List of Historic Documents On Display at Barnes and Noble at City Center that day as part of the Juneteenth Heritage Parade and Festival:
The Emancipation Proclamation: The Document That Saved America
“I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves…are and henceforward shall be free.” Authorized Edition, with the complete text, signed by Lincoln, William Seward as Secretary of State and John Nicolay, Private Secretary to the President; January 1, 1863 [printed and signed in 1864].
Frederick Douglass on “The price of liberty…”
“The price of liberty is eternal vigilance and though I see no immediate danger to free institutions in our country I think every American should be on guard and ready to meet the development of any malign force which may endanger the honor, the peace and stability of this great nation.”
Frederick Douglass (1817?-1895) letter signed to E. M. Rasafy, 1880, accepting an offer of membership in an organization called the “National Ciphers.”
Frederick Douglass Speech on the Emancipation Proclamation
“I congratulate you, upon what may be called the greatest event of our nation’s history, if not the greatest event of the century. In the eye of the Constitution, the supreme law of the land, there is not now, and there has not been, since the 1st day of January, a single slave lawfully deprived of Liberty in any of the States now recognized as in Rebellion against the National Government…I congratulate you upon this amazing change—the amazing approximation toward the sacred truth of human liberty.”
Frederick Douglass (1817?-1895) Speech about the Emancipation Proclamation, at the Cooper Institute in New York City on February 6, 1863. Printed in the New-York Daily Tribune, February 7, 1863.