Emancipation Oak

Emancipation Oak is near the entrance to Hampton University at the corner of Tyler St. and Emancipation Dr. Formerly enslaved people gathered under the shade of this sprawling live oak in 1863 to hear the South’s first reading of the Emancipation Proclamation. Hampton Institute opened here in 1868 as one of the first colleges for blacks; alumnus Booker T. Washington returned to teach in a new program for Native American students from Western reservations.