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Detroit's Date With A National Treasure (You're Invited)

The Emancipation Proclamation is coming to metro Detroit from June 20 through the 22.

Not a fake.

Not a reproduction.

THE Emancipation Proclamation, signed by President Abraham Lincoln.

It's going to be part of a blockbuster new Civil War exhibit opening  at the Henry Ford in Dearborn.

The document will arrive under armed guard  in Detroit next month.  It will be given a place of honor in the Henry Ford Museum June 20-22.  The museum will be open around the clock while the Proclamation is on display.  There will be live music and choirs and readings and soldiers and lanterns.  And admission will be free, around the clock.

Brian James Egen (a Civil War expert at the Henry Ford) tells WWJ, "We're going to be treating it as a vigil here.   We just felt that this is such a national treasure that we want to share it with as many people as possible. "

It's a document that changed American history.

Issued on January 1, 1862, the executive order from President Lincoln declared that "All persons held as slaves within any State....shall be then, thenceforward and forever free."

The original document will be on display starting at 7pm June 20 through 6am June 22.

A once-in-a-century opportunity.

Check it out at www.thehenryford.org/Emancipation.

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