Dallas Co. Residents Commemorate Emancipation Proclamation Signing

From the West Alabama Newsroom, people in Dallas County spent New Year’s Day at church — commemorating the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Nearly 100 people turned out at New Morning Star Baptist Church for the annual observance.

President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation — January 1, 1863.

The proclamation freed all persons being held as slaves in rebellious states.

“That document set our ancestors free, but it didn’t just free our ancestors, to me it freed our nation to help us become a more perfect union,” said Rev. Otis Culliver.

“I think its a day that should be celebrated by not only African-Americans but by all Americans because it was the day that America finally began to live up to its founding creed that all men are created equal.”

The event is sponsored by the Selma-Dallas County Emancipation Proclamation Committee.