Emancipation Day Parade Winds Through Washington DC

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 16: Bay Peters, 20, of the District of Columbia attempts to control large balloons filled with helium in high winds during the Emancipation Day parade April 16, 2014 in Washington, DC. A public holiday in nation's capital, April 16, 1862, is the date President Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act for the release of certain persons held to service or labor in the District of Columbia. The Act freed about 3,100 enslaved persons in DC nine months before Lincoln issued his famous Emancipation Proclamation. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)