National Freedom Day

National Freedom Day, observed February 1st, commemorates the anniversary of February 1, 1865, when President Abraham Lincoln signed the joint congressional resolution proposing what became the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, formally abolishing slavery once ratified later that year. The observance was championed by Major Richard R. Wright Sr., a man born into slavery who became an educator, banker, and civil rights advocate, and who campaigned for years to establish a day honoring freedom for all Americans. His efforts succeeded in 1948, when Congress passed legislation and President Harry Truman signed a proclamation officially designating February 1st as National Freedom Day, making it one of the first national observances explicitly tied to the end of slavery, predating the establishment of Juneteenth as a federal holiday by decades. Unlike Juneteenth, which marks when enslaved people in Texas learned of their freedom, National Freedom Day marks the constitutional starting point of abolition itself. The day is typically marked with wreath-laying ceremonies at the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, educational programs, and reflections on the ongoing pursuit of civil rights and equality in the United States.