As I recall my recent White House visit on the occasion of Black History Month. I stumbled across this interesting webpage dedicated to the life of President Lincoln. Read on...
For the first time under President Lincoln, black Americans came to the White House for social occasions. Historians James G. Randall and Richard N. Current observed: "At his New Year's Day reception in 1864 'four colored men, of genteel exterior and with the manners of gentlemen, joined in the throng that crowded the Executive Mansion, and were presented to the President of the United States,' as the Washington Morning Chronicle reported the unprecedented news. There was no scene. 'We are neither amalgamationists nor advocates of the leveling of all social distinctions,' the Chronicle commented; 'but we rejoice that we have a President who is a democrat by fact as well as by nature.'"
mlwh.org
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