In honor of the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, The State Museum of Pennsylvania will exhibit a rare copy of the document signed by President Abraham Lincoln. The document is on loan to the museum from the Union League of Philadelphia from Jan. 12 to Feb. 3.

On Jan.1, 1863, Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. The proclamation technically did not end slavery, but declared that all slaves in rebellious states were free.

This was a major blow to the Confederacy and transformed the American Civil War into a conflict to end the institution of slavery.