02/24/2022
"He led the abolitionist movements in Massachusetts and New York. To many abolitionists, he was a counter-living example to slave holders’ belief that slaves were intelectually inept at functioning as individual beings in society. In fact, beyond being a literary figure, Douglas was also the most photographed man of his time."...
Though Frederick Douglass’ birthday is a mystery, he chose to commemorate it in 1818. He was born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, but after escaping from slavery in 1838, he changed his last name to Douglass upon reading Sir Walter Scott’s narrative poem, “The Lady of the Lake.”
Douglass was born into slavery and later became an American abolitionist, social reformer, writer, orator, and statesman. What some may not know is that Douglass became the first African-American nominated for Vice President of the United States when Victoria Woodhull, the first woman who ran for president, added him as his running mate during the Equal Rights Party Convention in 1872. This was an honor, despite him not acknowledging the nomination.
He led the abolitionist movements in Massachusetts and New York. To many abolitionists, he was a counter-living example to slave holders’ belief that slaves were intelectually inept at functioning as individual beings in society. In fact, beyond being a literary figure, Douglas was also the most photographed man of his time. He sat for over 160 photos, all of which depict him frowning. Why did he not smile and why are there so many images of him? Well, he wanted to ensure that his facial expression captured a counter-image to the widely accepted Black American stereotypes at the time.
In 1848, he was one of the few men and the only African American to attend the first Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York. He encouraged free Black men to enlist in the Union Army during the Civil War, and after President Lincoln declared the 1862 Emancipation Proclamation, he helped improve conditions for soldiers, including merit-based promotions and equal pay.
Of his many achievements, he became known for his many autobiographies, including his experiences as a slave in his “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845), his “My Bo***ge and My Freedom (1855),” and “Life and Times of Frederick Douglass” (last autobiography first published in 1881, revised in 1892). One of his speeches that he is most known for is his, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”
Learn more about the life and times of Frederick Douglass by checking out the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site ➡️ https://www.nps.gov/frdo/index.htm
📸 NPS - Portrait of Frederick Douglass
