As part of the country’s sesquicentennial commemoration of the Civil War, the National archives has put together a traveling multimedia exhibit. The Tennessee State Museum will host this special exhibit from February 12 (Lincoln’s Birthday), 2013, until September 2, 2013. The highlight of the exhibit will be a six-day [exact dates to be determined] showing of the Emancipation Proclamation. This fragile document rarely leave the National Archives, and is limited to the amount of light exposure allowed. An article in The Murfreesboro Post outlines the details:
Tennessee State Museum to display Emancipation Proclamation
Posted: Monday, December 12, 2011 2:43 pm
NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam today announced the Tennessee State Museum will be the only stop in the Southeast of an unprecedented tour and display of the Emancipation Proclamation, the document that altered the course of U.S. history and dramatically changed the lives of African-Americans by proclaiming freedom for millions of slaves.
The fragile manuscript signed by Pres. Abraham Lincoln in 1863 can only be exposed to light for 72 hours while in Tennessee. The document will be displayed at intervals during a to-be-determined six-day period in 2013 marking the 150th anniversary of its signing.
The tour of the historic decree, which rarely leaves the National Archives in Washington D.C., is taking place in conjunction with the acclaimed National Archives multimedia exhibit Discovering the Civil War, which will open at the state museum on Feb. 12, 2013 – Lincoln’s birthday – and continue through Sept. 2, 2013.
Click here to read the full article
The exhibit is currently on display at the Houston Museum of Natural Science; running until April 29, 2012. The Houston Museum will also have six days in which to show the Emancipation Proclamation, which will happen from February 16 to February 21, 9 am – 9 pm. For more details about the Proclamation display and the entire exhibit, visit the Houston Museum’s website.