130th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation
https://archives.nbclearn.com/portal/site/k-12/browse/?cuecard=481
General Information
Source:
Creator:
NBC Today Show
Bryant Gumbel
Resource Type:
Copyright:
Event Date:
Air/Publish Date:
07/01/1863
12/31/1992
Copyright Date:
Clip Length
Video News Report
NBCUniversal Media,
LLC.
1992
00:02:48
Description
A descendent of one of George Washington's slaves talks about her efforts to create a public exhibition of
the Emancipation Proclamation, in honor of the 130th anniversary of it's signing by Abraham Lincoln.
Keywords
Emancipation Proclamation, Anniversary, Exhibit, National Archives, Abraham Lincoln, Slaves, Slavery,
Freedom, Loretta Haynes, Descendant, George Washington, Milton Gustafson, Historian
Citation
MLA
"130th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation." Bryant Gumbel, correspondent. NBC Today
Show. NBCUniversal Media. 31 Dec. 1992. NBC Learn. Web. 19 April 2015
© 2008-2015 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Page 1 of 3
APA
Gumbel, B. (Reporter). 1992, December 31. 130th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.
[Television series episode]. NBC Today Show. Retrieved from https://archives.nbclearn.com/portal/site/k12/browse/?cuecard=481
CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE
"130th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation" NBC Today Show, New York, NY: NBC
Universal, 12/31/1992. Accessed Sun Apr 19 2015 from NBC Learn:
https://archives.nbclearn.com/portal/site/k-12/browse/?cuecard=481
Transcript
130th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation
BRYANT GUMBEL: It’s been a dozen years since the American public last got a look at the
Emancipation Proclamation. Since that time, it’s been locked away in the National Archives. But today,
that proclamation most associated with freedom from slavery in this country, is experiencing some
freedom of it’s own. It’s being removed from its museum vault for a five-day showing, in honor of the
130th anniversary of it’s signing by Abraham Lincoln. The woman who inspired this showing is Loretta
Haynes, herself a descendent of George Washington’s slaves. She’s at the National Archives in
Washington with archives historian Milton Gustafson. Good morning to both of you.
LORETTA HAYNES: Good morning.
MILTON GUSTAFSON: Good morning.
GUMBEL: Ms. Haynes, how did the inspiration for this exhibit come about?
HAYNES: Well, it was something that was on my mind. I had gone to the Lincoln Park, where the
emancipation statue sits, last January 1, and it was a very lonely day for me because there, were, my
husband, the birds, we were the only ones there to commemorate the 129th anniversary of the
emancipation of slaves in America.
GUMBEL: After, after you had the idea, how tough was it to convince officials to take it out of the vault
and show it for a few days?
HAYNES: Well, I’m sure that with my talking to them and explaining why it was so significant in my
life, to see this document in the archives, I think that convinced them to do something about it.
GUMBEL: Though the Emancipation Proclamation is commonly referred to as the document that ended
slavery in this country, it really didn’t, did it?
GUSTAFSON: No, it didn’t, the Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, applied only to the states
that were still in the confederacy at that time, and so it freed the slaves there, but it was a, the first big step
on the road to emancipation with the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments coming, but the emancipation
proclamation was the first big step on that road.
GUMBEL: Yeah, it was also, I mean, Lincoln viewed it as a fit and necessary measure of war, I think he
© 2008-2015 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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called it. It, wasn’t it somewhat hypocritical in that it didn’t free those slaves who happened to reside in
the Border States that were affiliated with the North?
GUSTAFSON: Well, it didn’t apply there, but what happened in a lot of the Border States, like in
Maryland for example, the slaves that were in Maryland simply went to the District of Columbia and
became free. So, it was major, that was the beginning, and soon slaves throughout the land were becoming
free.
GUMBEL: Ms. Haynes, for you, what’s the significance of the document?
HAYNES: Well, the document is significant because it gave a ray of light, a ray of hope to the people.
This was a crack that they were able to go through to find their freedom, and it means so much to me to
get this document out of the mothballs, so that people can study it and learn about it. It’s a healing for me.
© 2008-2015 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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