It was on this day in 1862 that President Abraham Lincoln freed over 3,000 slaves in the District with the declaration of the Compensated Emancipation Act. The move came eight months before slaves were freed throughout the nation. The document read as follows:

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all persons held to service or labor within the District of Columbia by reason of African descent are hereby discharged and freed of and from all claim to such service or labor; and from and after the passage of this act neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except for crime, whereof the party shall be duly convicted, shall hereafter exist in said District.

Tomorrow the day shall officially be observed, starting with a parade down Pennsylvania Avenue at 11 a.m. and a program of speakers and music on Freedom Plaza starting at 1:30 p.m.