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Emancipation Day, 1909
- from The Wheeling Intelligencer, Sept. 22, 1909, p. 5:
EMANCIPATION DAY
COLORED PEOPLE OBSERVE HOLIDAY
Yesterday at State Fair Grounds, the Forty-sixth Anniversary of Emancipation Proclamation.
The forty-sixth anniversary of the issuance of Abraham Lincoln's emancipation proclamation was fittingly observed yesterday by the negro population of this city, and the state fair grounds, and a program of an impressive nature was carried out.
The program opened at 10:30 in the morning, with a parade over the principal streets of the city. Chief Marshall James Bransom was in charge together with a staff of aide-de-camps. The Wheeling Cornet band furnished the music.
The program for the afternoon was opened by invocation by Rev. H. R. Downs, pastor of the Wayman A. M. E. church. The Wheeling Cornet band followed with music. Miss Etta Marshall read the emancipation proclamation. Among the speakers were Prof. J. H. Hughes, of Lincoln school, and Charles N. Grandison, ex-president of Bennett college, Greensboro, N. C.
During the ceremonies a man took a fit and an ambulance had to be called to take him to his home. This was the only incident that marred the proceedings of the day.
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