Celebrate Emancipation Day with a look at DC history

If you've tried to go to the library or a government office today, you might have noticed that many places are closed for Emancipation Day. And you'd be forgiven if you didn't know what that was; it's a very DC-specific holiday. Slavery in the United States officially and formally ended with the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, but months prior on April 16, 1862, Lincoln separately freed slaves in the District of Columbia. DC has honored Emancipation Day since 2005, and it always causes hilarious issues during tax season.

In honor of a very DC holiday, we want to celebrate a few very DC films in our collection. You may be familiar with our Washington, DC Pinterest board, which features movies that take place in DC, but we also want to highlight our Washington, DC filmography. This filmography contains a large number of documentaries from our collection that deal with DC culture, and we can think of no better way to celebrate Emancipation Day then looking back on the unique history of this city.

If you're in the library today, stop by Media Services and ask what DC films we have available. We hope you enjoy this local holiday, and we hope you weren't planning on getting a driver's license today!