"Emancipation Proclamation," E. G. Renesch, 1919

African American Heroes

The Great Emancipator is joined by several African American heroes in a broadside honoring the famous Eighth Illinois Regiment of Chicago, which served with great distinction during World War I. Among those depicted are the poet Paul L. Dunbar, abolitionist Frederick Douglass, scientist Booker T. Washington, and two regimental officers, Lt. Col. Franklin A. Dennison and Lt. Col. Otis B. Duncan.