NEW YORK (AP) — A copy of the Emancipation Proclamation signed by Lincoln and bought by Robert F. Kennedy, who drew inspiration from the document as he enforced civil rights legislation in the 1960s, is going up for auction and could fetch as much as $1.5 million.
Kennedy bought the printed copy of the 1863 document declaring all slaves “forever free” shortly after its centennial celebration at the White House. His widow, Ethel, is offering it for sale Dec. 10 at Sotheby’s, the auction house told The Associated Press.
It’s one of 48 printed copies signed by President Abraham Lincoln. About half are known to survive; 14 are in public institutions and another eight to 10 are privately owned, said Shelby Kiffer, Sotheby’s senior specialist for historic American manuscripts.
The original, handwritten Emancipation Proclamation is in the National Archives.
Kennedy was attorney general to John F. Kennedy and served as his brother’s closest adviser. He was elected in 1964 to represent New York in the Senate and was assassinated in California on June 6, 1968, while campaigning for president.
The fact that the Kennedy White House celebrated the document when RFK was in charge of civil rights enforcement “really brings this to life,” Kiffer said.
“It also shows that you can have a spectacularly moving document, but it’s the deeds that back up the words of the document that are just as important,” he added.
Kennedy bought the copy, printed in black ink on acid-free paper, at a Sotheby’s auction in early 1964 for $9,500.
In a speech at the White House centennial ceremony, Kennedy spoke of furthering Lincoln’s work: “We have had a great deal of talk in the past 100 years about equality. Deed, not talk, is what is needed now. … We must do more because nations which are free, people who would be free, look to us for leadership, not merely in strength of arms, but in strength of convictions.”
The document marked a pivotal moment in Lincoln’s presidency, and the country’s, because it acknowledged that the Civil War was being fought to free the slaves.
Just before signing it, Lincoln said: “I never, in my life, felt more certain that I was doing right than I do in signing this paper.”
A hundred years later, the United States found itself similarly torn over new laws enforcing black civil rights, and it was Robert Kennedy’s job to carry them out.
“The Kennedy Emancipation Proclamation links the noblest ideals of the 1860s to the 1960s, links Robert Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln and civil rights and Civil War,” Sotheby’s Vice Chairman David Redden said.
Princeton journalism professor Evan Thomas, a historian, said he wasn’t surprised that RFK would want to own such an important document.
“He enforced and pursued civil rights in a way that no one else in the attorney general’s office ever had,” he said. “He went down South and saw the injustice there, and he was determined to do something about it. … He captured some of the spirit of Lincoln.”
The document that Kennedy bought was framed and hung in one of the main hallways of Hickory Hill, his sprawling 1840s home in McLean, Va., that was sold last year. Ethel Kennedy declined to comment about the auction.
The copy was one of 48 signed by Lincoln and printed to raise money for medical care for union soldiers, Kiffer said. The RFK copy was first sold in the summer of 1864 at a Philadelphia fair held by the Sanitary Commission, a forerunner of the Red Cross. It will be exhibited in Boston, Philadelphia and New York prior to the auction.
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skepticalbecausesomeoneneedstobe
Posted on October 6, 2010 at 7:30pmif glenn beck touched this thing it would probably disintegrate into a fiery heap
Report Post »libertybella58
Posted on October 6, 2010 at 4:48pmThis would make a great addition Glenn to an American Founders Museum & Library?
Report Post »libertyordeath87
Posted on October 6, 2010 at 3:26pmSince Ted is dead and no Kennedy is in the Senate to steal money is the family running out of cash already?
Report Post »rfycom
Posted on October 6, 2010 at 3:03pmPaladin, no I had to draw my 401K down to survive.
Report Post »Doc_Slammin
Posted on October 6, 2010 at 3:02pmRacism is taught and maintained by the liberal news media. Should the news media report on true racist acts? Yes. Should they give a wide public platform to single people or organizations who try to lift one race over another? No.
The bottom line with the proclamation is that America turned a corner in recognizing it‘s forefather’s dream, “an America that did not condone slavery”. This proclamation was not “unconstitutional” either, on the contrary, it actually fulfilled and upheld the constitutional values that were originally intended; but not ‘agreed’ upon by all parties at the time the constitution was created. Likewise, later when blacks and women were given the right to vote. None of these rights were “unconstitutional” and could not be argued as such. But not all people ‘agreed’ it was the right thing to do.
The result; slavery in America is gone. There are no masters, no chains, and no whips anymore. You can register to vote if you’re a citizen of the United States no matter your race or gender. No more does our political system allow someone to be counted as 1/5 of a person allowing “massive slave owners” an advantage in elections and thus, policy making.
Do we have a LONG way to go, as some would have us believe, or are people of all race and gender allowed to participate in the election process and influence policy making in America?
Report Post »Alvin691
Posted on October 6, 2010 at 3:00pmHa, bet Barton already has a copy.
Report Post »Alvin691
Posted on October 6, 2010 at 2:58pmHey Glenn!
Report Post »SummerB
Posted on October 6, 2010 at 2:11pmWhat a terrific piece of history. Glenn should buy it.
Report Post »A1955Rosie
Posted on October 6, 2010 at 1:44pmHow many people FOUGHT AND DIED TO SEE THIS THROUGH? So much is focused on slavery yet this part of it seems to be forgotten. We used to pray together, school together, respect each other. Woodrow Wilson, FDR (both D) worked hard at undoing Lincoln’s proclamation to where we are now. Where are we now? You, me, the regular folks at the gas station, the grocery store, we’re not racist. I see it everyday in your eyes. We’re all in the same “community” black/white/latino and now days much melded of either or all. Yes different community’s but still… We need to focus on the future of our children. They DON’T CARE about race, it’s just not an issue. They will care about their future and we need to prepare them accordingly for that. Vote wisely in Nov
Report Post »rfycom
Posted on October 6, 2010 at 11:44amBeck have one of your sister wife’s buy this for me. I would like to have it, but since my earnings went from $230K per year to a big ole $40K this year, I don’t have the funds. BUT, I am working to get my own talk show where I will cry and lie and create fear and make MILLIONS. Come on easy street.
paladin252
Posted on October 6, 2010 at 1:37pmif you have a message people want to hear and is trustworthy like glenn is, then you will succeed. did you cut your own earnings to avoid the new higher obama tax rates? glad to see you went from being an evil rich man to being a good average man now. welcome to my world.
Report Post »natstew
Posted on October 6, 2010 at 9:43amI’m not pro-slavery or anti Lincoln, but let’s at least be honest. the Emanciation Proclamation did not “declare all slaves forever free” as stated in the article above. It only declared slaves in the suceeding States free, and the proclamation’s purpose was to cause an uprising of slaves in the suceeding States. It left thousands of blacks in slavery in non-suceeding states, including Rhode Island. All slaves in the U.S.A. were not “declared free” until the signing into law of the 14th amendment.
Report Post »It’s still an historical document and should be preserved, Lincoln’s signature alone would qualify that.
flagbearer
Posted on October 6, 2010 at 6:57pmSome Southerners may wish they had succeeded, but they only seceded. It is also interesting to point out that Ulysses S. Grant freed his personal slave and his wife’s slaves after Robert E. Lee had freed his. The war to begin with really wasn’t about slavery. Taxation and tariffs by a liberal Congress was more than the South could bear. In Memoirs of Raphael Semmes, CSA Admiral and a Northerner by birth, wrote an excellent explanation as to the reasons the South seceded.
Report Post »Jackson
Posted on October 6, 2010 at 7:00pmThank you! Not to diminish it’s critical historic importance, but we should at least get the facts right.
Report Post »PeachyinGA
Posted on October 6, 2010 at 9:31amThis would be a nice addition to David Barton’s collection.
Report Post »THETDY
Posted on October 6, 2010 at 8:33amGood for tax revenue haha, i agree with dcart888 haha
Report Post »Dustyluv
Posted on October 6, 2010 at 8:22amPlease free this slave of my tax burden!!
Report Post »RichardSaunders
Posted on October 6, 2010 at 8:21amTruly a piece of important American history. Wish I had the discretionary income to bid for this. Owned by President Kennedy, signed by President Lincoln, PRICELESS … It also serves as an important reminder of our history – AND – our great efforts to right the wrong that was slavery … a stain standing against our greatest documents – identifying our right to “life and liberty” because all men are created EQUAL, and endowed by their CREATOR, with certain inalienable rights …
Report Post »RichardSaunders
Posted on October 6, 2010 at 8:30amApologies … Owned by Robert Kennedy … Still – the Kennedy and Lincoln link makes for a unique trail of American history … especially in light of the 1960`s civil rights unrest …
Report Post »dcart888
Posted on October 6, 2010 at 8:17amGlenn: Buy it
Report Post »NoName22
Posted on October 6, 2010 at 9:09amIf you do, hope you have enough leftover to fight Sharpton in court…..He won’t be able to stand it. Not that he will win, but nobody wins when you go to court, everyone just pays money.
Report Post »mizflame98
Posted on October 6, 2010 at 9:27amDavid Barton might outbid Glenn.
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