9:00 a.m. Church bells in the Tallahassee area will ring for 2 minutes to announce the dawning of the special day of freedom.

10:00 a.m. John G. Riley Center/Museum Civil War Commemorative Service at the Old City Cemetery
Commemorative Grave Decorating Service, and Union Soldier Reenactment, with twenty-one-gun salute, in tribute to fallen soldiers, a historical tradition of the ancestors. Commissioner Bill Proctor will lead children from Kingdom Life Preparatory Academy and the public in decorating the graves of fallen Civil War soldiers.

11:30 a.m. Dramatic reading of the Emancipation Proclamation
Speeches and music are presented on the front steps of the Knott House Museum. This year’s program features a special guest performance by John Anderson portraying Frederick Douglass and the Mina String Quartet from the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra. After the program, free lunch and activities are available in Lewis Park across from the Knott House Museum.

2:00—4:00 p.m., “Follow the Drinking Gourd!” at The Grove Museum
Join The Grove Museum for a special tour that explores different routes enslaved African Americans took towards freedom. Utilizing maps, oral stories, primary sources, and active engagement, visitors can formulate a narrative about the pathways individuals took after Emancipation.