Mayor Williams and Council Member Vincent Orange ride in a horse drawn carriage down Pennsylvania Avenue during the Emancipation Day parade April 16. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Act on April 16, 1862, ending slavery in the District nearly nine months before he signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves throughout the country. On January 5, 2005, Mayor Williams signed the bill to formally and legally recognize the cultural history and heritage of the District of Columbia.
	April Photo Gallery »

All photographs by the Mayor's Official Photographer, Lateef Mangum, unless otherwise noted.