The National Park Service, along with the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Lyle Laverty, recently held a celebration of Frederick Douglass' 190th birthday. They held the ceremony on Feb. 14 at the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site in Washington, D.C., in commemoration of Black History Month. Many consider Douglass, an abolitionist and statesman, as the “father of the Civil Rights Movement.”

Human rights advocate and radio personality Joe Madison was the keynote speaker at the event honoring Douglas. The All Souls Jubilee Choir and the Franklin P. Nash United Methodist Choir provided musical selections. During the ceremony, the National Park Service recognized the winners of its 2007 Frederick Douglass Annual Oratorical contest. Each year students around the country compete in the contest by reciting excerpts from one of Frederick Douglass' speeches.

The Frederick Douglass' program was free and open to the public and is one of many events held in national parks to commemorate Black History Month. 

Frederick Douglass, a self-educated and world-renowned author and statesman, was born into slavery on a plantation in Tuckahoe, Md., in 1818. At an early age, Douglass realized his ability to read would be the key to his freedom. As a young man in Baltimore, Md., he studied African-American preachers and taught in the Sabbath School where he refined his reading, writing and public speaking skills. At age 20, he escaped northward to freedom. Douglass went on to travel extensively throughout the United States and Europe, speaking out against slavery and other injustices to humanity. Frederick Douglass is remembered as a great abolitionist, civil rights activist and supporter of the woman’s suffrage movement of the 19th century.

Douglass moved to the nation’s capital from Rochester, N.Y., in 1872. He first lived on Capitol Hill; and in1877, he purchased “Cedar Hill,” the location of the Frederick Douglass National Historical Site. Douglass’ spacious estate, sitting on top of a hill, afforded him one of the most dramatic views of Washington, D.C.

Douglass’ home contains most of his original furnishings. Each room is filled with items from his public life as a politician. Some items include treasured books and gifts from such well-known figures as antislavery writer Harriet Beecher Stowe and President Abraham Lincoln. Douglass lived at “Cedar Hill” until his death in 1895.

For more information about the Frederick Douglass site or other programs held at the site, please visit www.nps.gov/frdo.

Related Sites:

President's Proclamation for African American History Month:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/01/20080129.html

PLW article on Frederick Douglass National Historic Site:
http://www.peoplelandandwater.gov/nps/
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