EMANCIPATION: THE OPERA

Welcome to Golden Gate Opera's online learning course, Emancipation: The Opera. For an in-depth explanation of the objectives and goals of this course, we invite you to read the Introduction page of this website.  

In this course you will view scenes from the opera Emancipation, which tells the story of President Abraham Lincoln's decision to sign the Emancipation Proclamation based on his friendship with three African American friends and the music sung by a Gospel Choir.

Before viewing the videos, you may wish to learn more about opera as an art form, or to read details about the many people who performed roles in Emancipation: The Opera or worked behind the scenes to make this production possible. You can do that on our The Opera page.

Then you can use the accompanying Resource Materials and Assignment suggestions to further explore the history of slavery, freedom from slavery, and the ensuing struggle for Black civil rights and equality right up through the present day.

We hope you will enjoy this journey through the Civil War and beyond, and that you will be moved as you view the videos and study the accompanying materials to think deeply about the issues that divide us. It is only as we explore the wounds that we can discover our abilities to heal them.