“On the night of Dec. 31, 1862, enslaved and free African Americans gathered, many in secret, to ring in the new year and await news that the Emancipation Proclamation had taken effect. Just a few months earlier on Sept. 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the executive order that declared enslaved people in the rebelling Confederate States legally free; however, the decree would not take effect until the clock struck midnight at the start of the new year. The occasion, known as Watch Night or “Freedom’s Eve,” marks when African Americans across the country watched and waited for the news of freedom.” (Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Historical Legacy of Watch Night)
For the 12th year, Owen Corpin, graduate of the Naval Academy at Annapolis, U.S.N. Commander (ret’d), and a descendant of an enslaved family that found refuge in Peterboro, has created and will host the 12th annual Peterboro Watch Night Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023. Corpin intends to return to a pre-COVID format with an event beginning with free registration at 11 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023, at the Smithfield Community Center, 5255 Pleasant Valley Road, Peterboro. The National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum will be open, and Corpin will share military stories. A light lunch will be served (soup, sandwiches and pastries).
At 1 p.m., Watch Night will be described, and Gerrit Smith’s connection with the earlier 1862 document will be explained before visitors proceed (drive or walk the short distance) to the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark at 2 p.m. to ignite the watch fire and read President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.
The public is encouraged to participate.
“It is a day for poetry and song – a new song,” said Frederick Douglass on Dec. 31, 1862. “These cloudless skies, this balmy air, this brilliant sunshine are in harmony with the glorious morning of liberty about to dawn up on us.” (ibid.)
For more information, visit NationalAbolitionHallofFameandMuseum.org or PeterboroNY.org, or call 315.308.1890. For status of the program, due to weather, call 315.308.1890 after 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 30, 2023.