Washington, D.C., District of Columbia story
A Different Kind of Investment
Most people think of shopping as spending money, but in 1865, a group of formerly enslaved people used their own hard-earned wages to purchase something far more permanent: a monu…
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Most people think of shopping as spending money, but in 1865, a group of formerly enslaved people used their own hard-earned wages to purchase something far more permanent: a monument. The Emancipation Memorial in Lincoln Park was funded entirely by the wages of those who had been freed. It started with a single five-dollar donation from a woman named Charlotte Scott shortly after Abraham Lincoln's death.
This collective investment in art and memory culminated in 1876 with the unveiling of a bronze statue designed by Thomas Ball. It's a powerful reminder that the most meaningful acquisitions aren't always things we buy for ourselves, but legacies we build for everyone.
Updated June 2026