MAYOR ROY SMITH JR. The 146th Annual Emancipation Proclamation Observance will be held Thursday, January 1, at 10 a.m. at Ebenezer Baptist Church.

The guest speaker for the occasion is Roy Smith, Jr., mayor of McCormick, South Carolina.

A native of Mt. Carmel, Mayor Smith has been employed by Flexible Technologies of Abbeville for the past 27 years. He is also the owner of Smith's Photography.

In addition, the mayor was a member of the armed forces, retiring after 21 years of service.

Concerning his community activities, Smith serves on the GLEAMNS Board of Commissioners, the Upper Savannah Council of Governments, the Piedmont Technical College Board of Visitors, the Upper Savannah Education Center Advisory Board, and the McCormick Hospice Advisory Board.

He was recently named "Man of the Year" by the Shiloh A.M.E. Church Men's Club. The guest speaker is also a recipient of the Mims High School Reunion Foundation's "Leadership in Government Award."

Mayor Smith has two daughters and one granddaughter.

Along with Smith, others taking part in the special observance include Rev. George Glenn, pastor of Mulberry C.M.E. Church; Justin Norman; Jazmon Dukes; Deana Mercier; Henry Brown, a member of the Lincolnton City Council; Howie Gunby; Brantley Zellars; Willie Stokes; Barry Norman, president of the Twilight Improvement Association, Inc. (TIA); Kenneth Elam, president of the Lincoln County Chapter of the NAACP; and Rev. Fred Perriman, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church.

Shawn Davis is set to preside over the program, and special music will be provided by Donnell Harris and the Leverett Family.

Kristen Freeman, a sophomore at LCHS, will read the Emancipation Proclamation.

The final draft of the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863.

Almost from the beginning of his administration, the president was pressured to issue a proclamation freeing the slaves. In principal, Lincoln approved, but he postponed action until he believed he had wider support from the American public. Basically, he was trying to save the Union.

President Lincoln read his initial draft of the Emancipation Proclamation to Secretary of State William H. Seward and Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles on July 13, 1862. Both men were speechless. In essence, the document mandated that all slaves in the states that refused to reunite with the Union by January 1, 1863, would be emancipated.

Later in July, the president raised the issue at a cabinet meeting and received a mixed reaction. Fortunately, he only wanted the advice of his cabinet on the style of the proclamation, not its substance. The course was set for what many consider to be the crowning achievement of his administration.

The proclamation was further refined during a cabinet meeting held September 22, 1862.

Sadly, the original document was lost in the Chicago fire of 1871. Surviving photographs show that it was written primarily in Lincoln's own hand.

Although the proclamation was signed in 1863, the slaves were not immediately freed. This did not occur until 1865 when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, abolishing slavery uniformly throughout the entire nation.

The Emancipation Proclamation Observance is being sponsored by the TIA and the local NAACP chapter.

Everyone is cordially invited to attend.

(Editor's note: Sources for this article include Welcome Mason, Wikipedia, and "The Abraham Lincoln Papers.")