Friday, 15 April 2011 18:58

DC Celebrates Emancipation Day

Written by By Justin Jouvenal | The Washington Post
Ayo Handy Kendi, left, Tabu Henry Taylor, Anise Jenkins, and Luci Murphy sing at the D.C. Emancipation Day Rally and March in 2010. Ayo Handy Kendi, left, Tabu Henry Taylor, Anise Jenkins, and Luci Murphy sing at the D.C. Emancipation Day Rally and March in 2010. (Gerald Martineau/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST)

April 16th-DC Emancipation Day!

The D.C. government and schools are closed for the holiday, and for city workers, today is an unpaid furlough day intended to help ease budget woes.

Dr. Gridlock has a full rundown of the weekend traffic patterns in place around the city. Trash and recycling collection scheduled for Friday also will move to Saturday.

Emancipation Day marks the occasion on April 16, 1862 when President Abraham Lincoln signed an act freeing slaves in D.C. The decree freed 3,100 slaves in the District and came nine months before Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray is scheduled to attend a mid-day protest for D.C. voting rights in Northeast. Gray and D.C. Council members were arrested at a protest over the federal budget on Monday.

The nation’s taxpayers also benefit from the holiday. The federal tax filing deadline is delayed until midnight Monday because local holidays in the nation’s capital affect tax deadlines the same way federal holidays would.

D.C. has a listing of Emancipation Day events on its Web site.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. So, how will you celebrate? Tell us in the comments below.

View this article online in The Washington Post.

Read 1293 times Last modified on Thursday, 28 June 2018 15:46

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