January 1863: President Lincoln Signs the Emancipation Proclamation, Extending Freedom to Enslaved Persons

Civil War Era

This month in 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, one of the most important Presidential acts in American history. Since the enactment of the...

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Remembering Catherine Littlefield Greene

Revolutionary War Era

Today we briefly pay tribute to one of the bravest women of the Revolutionary War era, who risked her personal safety to follow her husband into battle, and who spent the war years supporting the...

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Remembering Sacagawea

American West

United States $1 commemorative coin honoring Sacajawea, 2000.  A watershed event in American history was the Lewis & Clark Expedition of 1804-06. We’ve posted remembrances before about...

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Remembering Jane Grey Swisshelm

Civil War Era

Born this day on December 6, 1815, Jane Grey Swisshelm was one of America’s best-known anti-slavery advocates of the 19th century. Born in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, Jane married James Swisshelm at...

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Remembering John Brown

Civil War Era

Fifteen months before the American Civil War commenced with the shelling of Fort Sumter in April 1861, one of the most memorable events in the history of the abolitionist movement in the United...

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Remembering Mary Chestnut

Civil War Era

In 1905, one of the most important books about the Civil War was published. Entitled “A Diary From Dixie,” the book was actually the diary of Mary Boykin Chesnut, a Southerner whose first-person...

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Remembering George Rogers Clark

American West, Revolutionary War Era

On this day in 1752, George Rogers Clark was born in Albermarle County, Virginia.  Sometimes called the “Conqueror of the Old Northwest,” Clark was a brigadier general in the Revolutionary War,...

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Remembering Daniel Boone

American West, Revolutionary War Era

One of the most famous trailblazers in American history was Daniel Boone, born this day 290 years ago on November 2, 1734.  He was born into a family of Quakers, and was raised initially in...

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The 160th Anniversary of Nevada’s Statehood

American West, Civil War Era

On October 31, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln officially announced the admission of Nevada to statehood. On that day, Nevada became the 36th state in the Union, as the country was still in the midst...

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Remembering Daniel Webster

Civil War Era

One of the most important political leaders of the early 19th century, and one of America’s greatest orators, Daniel Webster died this day on October 24, 1852. He played a prominent role in the...

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