When the clock strikes 12 to bring in the New Year, it will also mark the 149th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Several local churches have used the first day of the year to commemorate the act that would release the nation’s slaves. Presented by the Selma-Dallas County Emancipation Proclamation Council, this year’s observance ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. inside El Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, located at 2792 Persimmon Tree Road in Valley Grande.

Signed by former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on Jan. 1, 1863, the proclamation announced, “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious areas of the country, or the part that wanted to secede from the northern states, “are and henceforward shall be free.”

With this year’s theme titled “Standing on our Past to Build our Future,” council second vice president and program chair Judge Maggie Peterson invites all churches and young people to attend the event.

“It’s most important because we don’t want our people to forget and get facts on the continuation of the emancipation proclamation, or otherwise people will rewrite our history and we need to know the truth,” Peterson said. “One of the things we talk about is to capture the minds, the hearts and souls of America.”

Contrary to popular belief, the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the nation  — it was limited in scope and applied only to the states that had seceded from the Union and did not apply to slavery in the Border States. The document also exempted portions of the Confederacy already under Northern control.

Peterson said the later passage of the 13th, 14th and 19th amendments and the voting rights and civil rights acts by Congress, helped to shape America.

“All men are created equal,” Peterson said.

“These impacted America — not only African Americans but minorities and women.”

During the celebration, Peterson said three local civil rights icons will also be honored — F.D. Reese, the late Amelia Boynton Robinson and Richie Jean Sherrod Jackson, with plaques.

“All of these have contributed and sacrificed much,” Peterson said. “We want to let people understand we have all these civil rights icons right among us in Selma. We’re looking forward to have a huge crowd.”

Chief Presiding Judge for the 15th Judicial Circuit of Alabama Judge Charles Price will be the guest speaker. U.S. Rep Terri Sewell (D-Birmingham) will also pay a special tribute to the activists and informational pamphlets about the history of the emancipation will be available for visiting children.

“We don’t want them to forget,” Peterson said. “If you don’t remember the past, you’re bound to repeat it.”