 Hampton's
proud past meets your promising future… One day in 1863,
the members of the Virginia Peninsula's black community gathered
to hear a
prayer answered. Ninety-eight feet in diameter, Emancipation Oak
was the site of the first Southern reading of President Lincoln's
Emancipation Proclamation, an act which accelerated the demand
for African-American education. The peaceful shade of the oak served
as the first classroom for newly freed men and women - eager for
an education. Mrs. Mary Peake, daughter of a freed colored woman
and a Frenchman, conducted the first lessons taught under the oak
located on the University's campus.
The Emancipation oak is designated as one of the 10 Great Trees
of the World by the National Geographic Society.
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