New Year’s Eve means many things for different people, but for enslaved people it meant the night before the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, a time of joy, but also a time of uncertainty. This feeling of fearful anticipation came because slave owners after Christmas and before the new year traditionally settled their debts by selling off some of their slaves, often separating families. Commemorating Watch Night at First Presbyterian Church is a time for us to remember our U.S. history as we hear from ancestors of slaves.
December 31, 2023
January 1, 2023
December 31, 2021
December 31, 2020