The Emancipation Monument in Washington, D.C. was funded entirely by the formerly enslaved that had gained their status under President Abraham Lincoln. When Charlotte Scott heard of Lincoln’s death, she took her first $5 she had earned in freedom and gave it to her former master, William P. Rucker, and begged him to see a memorial to the “best friend the colored people had.” With the assistance of the Western Sanitary Commission, a war relief organization of St. Louis, funds were donated for the monument by thousands of slaves, the Freedmen’s Bureau and the U.S. Colored Troops.
On the monument Lincoln is seen with his Emancipation Proclamation of January 1st, 1863 asking the formerly enslaved Archer Alexander, who has already broken his own shackles, to rise and stand beside him. Alexander was born in Virginia, brought to Missouri in 1829, and is a hero buried in an unmarked grave in St. Louis. He is the ancestor of Muhammad Ali. This memorial, shares in the context of history the appreciation felt by the formerly enslaved; and is the first and only monument in our Nation’s capital funded entirely by African Americans. A petition has been started through CHANGE.ORG, in response to Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton’s Bill HR7466 To require the Secretary of the Interior to remove the Emancipation Monument from Lincoln Park in the District of Columbia. It is time we stop those who do not know our history, from removing it. Please sign our petition today! https://www.change.org/EmancipationMonumentDC
For more information see https://www.ArcherAlexander.blog
Dorris Keeven Franke 