National Freedom Day at SSU

About National Freedom Day
​National Freedom Day is a national observance on February 1 honoring the signing by President Abraham Lincoln of a joint resolution that later became the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution on February 1, 1865.

The Savannah State Connection
Major Richard Robert Wright Sr., first president of our institution, believed there should be a day when freedom for all Americans is celebrated. Wright invited national and local leaders to meet in Philadelphia to formulate plans to set aside February 1 each year to memorialize President Abraham Lincoln signing the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. One year after Wright's death in 1947, U.S. Congress passed a bill to recognize National Freedom Day. The proclamation was signed into law on June 30, 1948, by President Harry Truman. 

President Truman Signs the Proclamation into Law, June 30, 1948. From left to right behind him: 

• Mrs. Harriet Wright Lemon, treasurer of the Citizens & Southern Bank & Trust Company of Philadelphia and daughter of Major Richard R. Wright, Sr.
• Joseph E. Mitchell, editor of the St. Louis Argus newspaper
• Mrs. Mary McLeod Bethune, president of the National Council of Negro Women of America
• Emanuel Crogman Wright, president of the Citizens & Southern Bank & Trust Company of Philadelphia and the youngest son of Major Richard R. Wright, Sr.
• Dr. W.H. Jernagin, president of the National Sunday School
• Elder L. Michaux, president of the National Memorial to the Progress of the Colored Race of America

From the Savannah State University News blog:

Savannah State University will celebrate the annual National Freedom Day at Noon on Wednesday, February 1 with a special wreath-laying ceremony at the Maj. Richard R. Wright, Sr. Bust on Felix Alexis Circle by Maxwell Saunders, the great-great-great grandson of Maj. Wright, SSU’s first president. Themed “How to be Free in 2023: A Vision for the Future Rooted in Our Past,” the ceremony will include student leaders from SSU’s NAACP, Alpha Kappa Mu Honor Society, and Honors Program reading the 13th ,14th, and 15th Amendments. The event is open to the public and there is no admission to attend.

The observance also includes a roundtable discussion led by Dr. Christina Davis, associate professor of Africana Studies and Dr. Carolyn V. Jordan, director of SSU’s Honors Program, at 6:30 p.m. in the Student Union Ballroom, with students from Clark Atlanta University joining the conversation virtually.

For the full story, visit https://savannahstateuniversitynews.blogspot.com/2023/01/savannah-state-university-celebrates.html