Emancipation 150 years ago not forgotten...

In January 2013, it slipped my mind that Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation 150 years ago. This move by Lincoln was downplayed since it was said in retrospect that the document only freed slaves in the Confederate States, however, it was a major event in American History.

Fifty years ago, my parents took me to see Duke Ellington's Orchestra play at the "Century of Negro Progress Exposition" at McCormick Place in Chicago between August 16th and September 2, 1963.  It was the only vacation I remembered going on during my childhood that did not include just visiting relatives, for I never went to a theme park until I was 15..

I discovered the official souvenir program while going through some old papers. JFK was president then, and Richard Daley was mayor of Chicago. The program was my first Black History book and profiled many African Americans who made major contributions in the United States. The Founder and Executive Director of the Exposition was Alton A. Davis.

Alton Davis

Some of the Exposition's major advertisers were Playboy, Spiegel, Beatrice Family of Fine Foods, Schlitz, Mobil, Walgreens, Sealtest, and Ida Mae Scott Hospital. Flipping through the program, an ad for Supreme Life Insurance Company caught my eye, and I thought I would share it with you. The message needs to be repeated today, 150 years since Emancipation. (I edited out some of the marketing verbiage.)