Under the Freedom Tree

One night in 1861, three escaped slaves made their way to a Union-held fort where they were declared "contraband of war" and granted protection. As word spread, thousands of runaway slaves poured into the fort. These "contrabands" made a home for themselves. In 1863, they bore witness to one of the first readings of the Emancipation Proclamation�beneath the sheltering branches of the tree now known as Emancipation Oak.