Washington, D.C., District of Columbia story
A Legacy in Stone
In Lincoln Park on Capitol Hill, the Emancipation Memorial stands as a powerful testament to freedom. Dedicated in 1876, the bronze statue was designed by Thomas Ball and depicts…
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In Lincoln Park on Capitol Hill, the Emancipation Memorial stands as a powerful testament to freedom. Dedicated in 1876, the bronze statue was designed by Thomas Ball and depicts Abraham Lincoln and an enslaved man modeled on Archer Alexander. What makes this monument truly unique is how it was funded: it was paid for by formerly enslaved people using their own wages.
The dedication was a massive event, with Frederick Douglass delivering the keynote address before a crowd of over 25,000 people. Originally, the statue faced west toward the Capitol, but in 1974, it was rotated east to face the Mary McLeod Bethune memorial.
Updated June 2026