A Rare Chance to See the Emancipation Proclamation

Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation. Credit National Archives.

The document that freed thousands of Southern slaves 150 years ago is at the Tennessee State Museum this week. The original Emancipation Proclamation is the centerpiece of an exhibit on Civil War history that opened Tuesday.

The ink is faded. The old-fashioned handwriting isn’t easy for modern eyes to decipher. But eleven year old Justin Hughes found what he wanted to see.

Abraham Lincoln’s signature.

His mother and aunt laugh about looking for it, too.

And I never did see it, I needed my guide dog.

Visitors examine the Emancipation Proclamation on display at the Tennessee State Museum. Credit Nina Cardona.

But even without being able to make out the words, sisters Charlsetta Hughes and Tanya Gillis say it was overwhelming to stand just an arm’s length away from the executive order the freed their family. The pair are just four generations removed from that time, and they’ve heard a lot about what life was like under slavery.

“We just recently, well, within the last ten years lost our great-grandfather who Justin realizes that he knew, and those stories were passed down from generation to generation. “

“We try to get him to understand that people really worked and died and it was so important to them to do the things that he does everyday without really thinking about.”

So much emotion is and history is tied up in the Emancipation Proclamation. But it’s not often that the general public gets to see it.

We’re only supposed to display it 72 hours a year.

Bruce Bustard is a senior curator at the National Archives.

The document is faded, it’s not the best paper, the seal-you can see that the seal has kind of broken off.

The more light hits the old ink, the more damaged it becomes.

Passage of the 13th Amendment was recently portrayed in the film, Lincoln. The copy on display was signed by Lincoln as the matter was sent to states for ratification. Credit National Archives.

We want people to see the document, but on the other hand we want folks’ great-great grandchildren to be able to see the document.

The Tennessee State Museum has essentially been granted the entire year’s allotment of display time spread out in small chunks over the next week. An original signed copy of the thirteenth amendment, which ended slavery for good, is also in the exhibit. Luckily, that document is strong enough to stay on display here through the end of the summer.