RICHMOND — The 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation has inspired an essay contest sponsored by the Center for Baptist Heritage & Studies.
Francis Bicknell Carpenter’s 1864 painting, First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln. (Photo/Wikimedia Commons)
|
“How to achieve racial reconciliation in the United States on the 150th anniversary of emancipation” is the theme of the Heritage Center’s 2013 Roots and Wings Young Scholars Essay Contest, open to 11th and 12th grade students who attend a Baptist church in Virginia.
The theme compliments the national conference on “Faith, Freedom & Forgiveness: Religion in the Civil War, Emancipation and Reconciliation in Our Time,” set for May 20-22 in Richmond and co-sponsored by the Heritage Center and the Baptist History & Heritage Society.
Essayists are asked to include historical background on some aspect of slavery, emancipation, segregation or civil rights — or all of them — for “remembering the past” as well as “imagining the future” in achieving racial reconciliation in the United States. A cash award is presented to winners.
For eligibility, rules and submission requirements visit the Heritage Center’s website at www.baptistheritage.org. The deadline for entries is April 15.
Robert Dilday ([email protected]) is managing editor of the Religious Herald.