You will find the Emancipation Oak at the entrance of Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia. Fitting, since under the tree’s vast shade, Mrs. Mary Peake, a freed slave, taught lessons to newly freed men and women. Most significant, the first southern reading of President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation happened here, under the Emancipation Oak in 1863. With a trunk that is 16 feet around and a 100-foot wide canopy, the Emancipation Oak is a great place to learn our history while staying socially distanced.
