On Dec. 31, 1862, many black slaves and their white friends gathered in churches to watch for momentous changes in the new year. That particular date was special because Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation took effect on Jan. 1, 1863, said Reavis Mitchell, chairman of the Fisk University history department.
"It became a tradition to gather at the first of the year, pray for what you want, for something better and, in this case, something better would have been the end of slavery."
| Continue "Ringing in the new year with a prayer," Brian Lewis' article for the Tennessean on the "Watch Night" phenomenon, also mentioned in Michele D. Manigault's Catonsville Times article "Watch Night recalls eve of emancipation" and Dionne Gleaton's "Watch Night -- 'A spiritual resolution'" for the Times and Democrat
posted in articles on January 1, 2004 2:34 AM | t (0)
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