It is interesting to note that a coalition of civil rights groups, led by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), chose 1 January 1959, Emancipation Day, to stage a protest march, the Pilgrimage of Prayer, in Richmond to protest Virginia's Massive Resistance and the closed schools in Norfolk, Charlottesville, and Warren County. Some of the wrongs that Virginia needs to apologize for not only occurred in 1858 but in 1958. Perhaps, like South Africa, we need a Truth & Reconciliation Commission to help heal the wounds of the nearer and more distant past. Jim Hershman Hollis Gentry wrote: >Norfolk freedmen initially celebrated Emancipation Day >on January 1, 1863. I discovered an article on the >history of the celebration in the February 26, 1926 >issue of the Norfolk Journal and Guide. I chanced >upon it as one of my relatives was a member of the >planning committee and another served as a marshall in >later emancipation parades. > >The article goes on to provide details of the history >of the event, noting that preparations for the >celebration began not long after September 23, 1862, >when news of Lincoln's proclamation appeared in a >local newspaper. > >Apparently, notes and minutes of the planning meeting >survived until 1926, when those papers were sent to >the newspaper, hence the publication of the article. > > >Hollis L. Gentry >[log in to unmask] > >To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions >at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html