Washington, D.C., District of Columbia story
A Monument Funded by Freedom
Most monuments are funded by governments, but the Emancipation Memorial in Lincoln Park has a different origin. It was funded by formerly enslaved people using their own hard-earn…
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Most monuments are funded by governments, but the Emancipation Memorial in Lincoln Park has a different origin. It was funded by formerly enslaved people using their own hard-earned wages. Designed by Thomas Ball and dedicated in 1876, the bronze statue depicts Abraham Lincoln and an enslaved man modeled on Archer Alexander.
The unveiling was a massive event, with Frederick Douglass delivering the keynote address before President Ulysses S. Grant and a crowd of over 25,000 people. For a long time, the statue faced west toward the Capitol, but in 1974, it was rotated east to face the Mary McLeod Bethune memorial.
It remains a powerful testament to the cost of freedom and the determination of those who paid for it.
Updated June 2026