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Image Not Available for Reading the Emancipation Proclamation.
Reading the Emancipation Proclamation.
Image Not Available for Reading the Emancipation Proclamation.

Reading the Emancipation Proclamation.

DraftsmanDrawn by Henry Walker Herrick American, 1824 - 1906
LicenserCopyright by Lucius Stebbins American, 1810 - 1901
Date1864
MediumEngraving; printer's ink on wove paper
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (image height x width): 13 1/2 x 17 5/8in. (34.3 x 44.8cm)
Sheet (height x width): 18 x 20 7/16in. (45.7 x 51.9cm)
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineThe Newman S. Hungerford Museum Fund
DescriptionIn the interior of a cabin, a soldier in uniform reads from what appears to be a newspaper, while ten African-Americans listen and react emotionally. A young woman with two children and an elderly man kneel in prayer. A young barefoot boy holding a flaming torch climbs on a chair. Another boy raises his hat in the air. An elderly woman at the left leans on a cane. A woman at the right holds an infant. A cradle is nearby. Two women wear turbans. An open door and a ladder leading to an upper story are in the right background. A pitcher, a plate, and a knife are on a table in the center of the room. A rose and a towel hang from a string above a stone fireplace. A small bust-length portrait of Abraham Lincoln is printed beneath the main image.
Object number2006.50.0
InscribedInscribed in plate, lower center, in black ink, "READING THE / EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION / And upon, this act of justic, warranted by the CONSTITUTION, / I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of ALMIGHTY GOD. / Jany. 1. 1863."
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