Frederick Douglass delivered Lincoln reality check at Emancipation Memorial

[Steve Whitlock]

(07-05-2020 09:16 AM)My Name Is Kate Wrote:  Lincoln must have seemed almost like God to the freed slaves, and the Emancipation Memorial could be interpreted as suggesting that sentiment, with Lincoln towering over the kneeling slave, and his arm extended over him in a blessing-like gesture. But Lincoln was not God...not even close, and Lincoln alone did not free the slaves. Many lives were lost and families shattered in accomplishing that goal. Of course that would be more difficult to depict in a sculpture, and it was easier to use Lincoln alone as the symbol of emancipation. But having the text of the Thirteenth Amendment in the background, may have been a better substitute for Lincoln. (Not that it would make one iota of difference in appeasing the mob hellbent on tearing down statues.)

A more common view was that President Lincoln was seen as both Father Abraham and Moses for the slaves. Michael Burlingame in "Abraham Lincoln, A Life" mentions that, as well as many news clips I saw while perusing thousands for President Lincoln.

There was also a song written in 1865, after president Lincoln's death, which refers to him as Father Abraham Lincoln. I called one of the attachments the "Father Abraham Lincoln Song", but the real title was "On the Death of President Abraham Lincoln Song", which I have also attached due to the first attachment being a little hard to read.

All of this is fine for general discussion; however, it ignores the reason that the Emancipation Memorial has been attacked by protestors, and why a better understanding of the memorial might be beneficial for its survival.