Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 August 1887 — Emauopation Celebration. [ARTICLE]

Emauopation Celebration.

Five thousand colored people attended an Emancipation celebration at Shelbyville, Ind.-, on the 2d. Ex-Senator B. K. Brtice delivered the principal address. He first spoke of the colored race when in slavery end (ben of their emancipation. To the immortal Lincoln who struck the chains from their bodies and made them citisens, he paid an eloquent tribute. Turning to his people in the audience lie advised them to secure homes for themselves, even if they were such as the stars of heaven would glitter through the cracks in the roof; also to educate their children, as they-had a favorable opportunity under the free-school system of Indiana. Technically speaking, the colored people had all the rights of other citizens of the Republic, but in fact they were in many instances shamefully mistreated and slighted. The deplorable condition of the colored peeple in the South was feelingly referred to and a sad picture presented of the want of educational facilities for the generations coming on. He told the colored people to turn to the future with brave hearts and willing hands, follow the teachings of Christianity and embrace every opportunity for improvement