Description

This color photogravure commemorates the Emancipation Proclamation and features a head and shoulders portrait of President Abraham Lincoln in the center of the image with four oval head and shoulders portraits of African American people of note surrounding him. They are: Paul L. Dunbar, Lt. Col. Franklin A. Dennison, Lt. Col. Otis B. Duncan, and Frederick Douglass. The printmaker has erroneously shown President Lincoln holding a document with a quotation from the Declaration of Indepence but signed A. Lincoln at the end. The printmaker titled the print on a banner below the document as "Emancipation Proclamation, September 22, 1862." However, that was the date of the preliminary announcement of the upcoming Proclamation which took effect on January 1, 1863. A patriotic eagle and shield with six American flags is at the top center of the print. Various scenes involving African Americans surround the central portrait including in the lower left corner a World War I battle scene with African American soldiers. In the lower right corner of the print is a scene showing African American couples and school children along with an early American automobile on the street. The printmaker seemed to value symbolism over historical accuracy. Part of The Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, courtesy of the Indiana State Museum