New Kent NAACP holds Jubilee Day

Sylvia Tabb Lee of Williamsburg, a storyteller of the African-American legacy and times during the 18th century, told the story of slaves that ran away from slavery in southern plantations to freedom in the north.

Lee’s words highlighted the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation during Jubilee Day hosted by the New Kent branch of the NAACP on Jan. 1 at St. Luke Baptist Church in Eltham.

Minister Doris Crawley of Mt. Nebo Baptist Church, Barhamsville, read the proclamation to the crowd, saying, “That on the first day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand, eight hundred, sixty-three, all persons held as slaves with any state, or designated part of a state, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be, thenceforward, and forever free; and the executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they make for their freedom.”

Crawley emphasized that the proclamation listed all states, including Virginia, and territories that held slaves.