…ity’s many reform societies. Black Soldiers Emancipation Proclamation, Leland-Boker Authorized Edition, 1864. M1986.257. Brooklyn Historical Society. On January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation took effect. All persons held as slaves within any state […] in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free. Read more… Close But the now iconic document did not provide freedom for all. The Ema…