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A CEREMONIAL RESOLUTION
21-221
IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
June 7, 2016
To recognize the contributions of William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879) as an American journalistic crusader who helped lead the successful abolitionist campaign against slavery in the United States and serves as namesake to Garrison Elementary School, and to declare June 10, 2016 as “Garrison Day” in the District of Columbia.
WHEREAS, the abolitionist movement in America in the early 1800's was directed at abolishing the inhumane, unjust, and cruel practice of slavery in America;
WHEREAS, William Lloyd Garrison was considered the most outspoken abolitionist in the country;
WHEREAS, Mr. Garrison helped found the American Anti-Slavery Society, the first abolitionist society to include both blacks and whites speaking out against slavery together, resulting in numerous chapters across the country and tens of thousands of members;
WHEREAS, Mr. Garrison published the first issue of the weekly newspaper The Liberator on January 1, 1831, which included the “Petition to Congress for the Abolition of Slavery in the District of Columbia” boldly demanding the immediate freedom of all slaves in the District;
WHEREAS, The Liberator, hand-set one letter at a time and without financial resources, was published weekly for 35 years until slavery was officially abolished in America by the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1865;
WHEREAS, after years of criticizing President Abraham Lincoln for his evolving stance on slavery, Mr. Garrison acted in the minority among his abolitionist peers to support Lincoln only after his issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation and was then instrumental in his successful re-election;
WHEREAS, while visiting Lincoln at the White House after his re-election, the President confided in Mr. Garrison his plans to introduce a Constitutional Amendment banning slavery forever;
WHEREAS, the grounds of the Garrison Elementary School field were originally the site of Camp Barker, one of a few hundred “Contraband Camps” of formerly enslaved persons and was visited by President Lincoln;
WHEREAS, when the Union began forming regiments of “Colored Troops” in 1863, they recruited from the Contraband Camps, including the one on the Garrison Elementary School site;
WHEREAS, Mr. Garrison also went to England and assisted the British abolitionists in bringing about the official banning of slavery in England and throughout the British Empire in 1833;
WHEREAS, Garrison Elementary School, located at 1200 S Street, N.W., was proudly built and named after the renowned abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison in 1964; and
WHEREAS, Garrison Elementary School celebrates “Garrison Day” on June 10th and strives to inform its student body about the rich legacy of its namesake and the important contributions of the site to the District of Columbia and the nation.
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this resolution may be cited as the “Garrison Elementary School Day Recognition Resolution of 2016”.
Sec. 2. The Council of the District of Columbia declares June 10, 2016 as “Garrison Day” in the District of Columbia.
Sec. 3. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon the first date of publication in the District of Columbia Register.
