Dedication of Lewis's marble "Forever Free," celebrating emancipation.
On January 1, 1871, Edmonia Lewis’s marble sculpture Forever Free was publicly dedicated in Boston. Celebrating the liberation of African American slaves in post-Civil War America, the piece portrayed a man and woman emerging from shackles, a powerful embodiment of freedom. This significant public dedication highlighted Lewis’s commitment to themes of emancipation and identity, cementing her place as a pioneering sculptor and elucidating the cultural and historical significances of freedom in a newly reformed nation.