December 31,1862:  Watch Night- African-Americans across the US both enslaved and free waited anxiously. They were waiting to see if President Abraham Lincoln was really going to sign the Emancipation Proclamation the next day.

January 1, 1863:  Emancipation of Proclamation- President Lincoln signs an Executive Order granting freedom to 3.5 million enslaved African-Americans.

December 6, 1865: 13th Amendment to the constitution- Permanently abolished slavery and involuntary servitude.

This is one of my favorite family pictures. It's my Great Grandfather, Ernest. My Grandmother told me he was a quiet man. That he was proud. I will never know what he endured as a farmer in the deep south. But, what I do know is that my sense of possibilities, of hope were passed down from him to my Grandmother-from her to my Mother and from my Mother to me.