Frederick Douglass

• 
• 11/13/2022
  

  "Divisive Concepts" Bans Will Undermine Teaching Some of the Values Conservatives Claim to Uphold

  by John Marot

  The story of Frederick Douglass, to single out one prominent abolitionist, is "divisive" in the sense that students engaging with it will find echoes of values claimed by both left and right. That's why this history must be taught. 

• 
• SOURCE: Harvard Gazette
  10/27/2022
  

  Melvin Rogers: How Black Thinkers Remade America's Political Traditions

  From Douglass to DuBois, African American intellectuals have pushed for the theory of American republicanism to wrestle with the conflict between racial domination and political equality. 

• 
• 10/23/2022
  

  Catch these Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass Docs While You Can

  by Walter G. Moss

  Readers have a short time to watch two informative documentaries on American freedom fighters Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman. 

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  3/25/2022
  

  Linda Hirshman Offers a Lively Dissection of the Competing Strains of American Abolitionism

  by Drew Gilpin Faust

  Hirshman focuses on the complex character of abolitionist editor Maria Weston Chapman, whose combination of moral fervor and racial prejudice pushed Frederick Douglass from the moralistic Garrisonian camp to a pragmatic and more effective strategy of political activism. 

• 
• 3/6/2022
  

  How Lincoln and Douglass Joined Forces for Freedom

  by Jonathan W. White

  Lincoln's discussions with Frederick Douglass should make clear the difference between the president's public statements and his inner convictions on emancipation. 

• 
• SOURCE: Niskanen Center
  1/27/2022
  

  Frederick Douglass's 1876 Report

  by Laura K. Field

  Conservatives today invoke Douglass against supposed "woke" trends in history, but misread his critiques of racism in American institutions. 

• 
• SOURCE: Boston Review
  12/9/2021
  

  Frederick Douglass and American Empire in Haiti

  by Peter James Hudson

  "Douglass was aware of the moral limitations of U.S. exceptionalism and cautioned against its abuse—especially against countries such as Haiti that had neither the economic nor the military resources to easily withstand U.S. pressure."

• 
• 7/18/2021
  

  Can Sports Realize Frederick Douglass's Ideal of the Composite Nation?

  by Walter G. Moss

  From Jackie Robinson to Simone Biles and Shohei Otani, sports have been like the point of a knife piercing myths of white supremacy. 

• 
• SOURCE: Civil War Memory
  2/2/2021
  

  Manipulating Frederick Douglass and His Historical Record

  by Kevin M. Levin

  Frederick Douglass intended his portraits as visual representations of freedom, autonomy and dignity. The author wonders if it's appropriate to take the liberty of indulging in the trendy photo animation technology with the portraits of historical figures. 

• 
• SOURCE: NPR
  10/29/2020
  

  The Most Sacred Right

  Frederick Douglass dreamed of a country where all people could vote and he did everything in his power to make that dream a reality. In the face of slavery, the Civil War and the violence of Jim Crow, he fought his entire life for what he believed was a sacred, natural right that should be available to all people - voting.  

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  8/12/2020
  

  For Black Suffragists, the Lens Was a Mighty Sword

  Photographs of generations of Black suffragists offer invaluable documents about their thwarted and central roles in the history of women’s rights.

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  7/6/2020
  

  Frederick Douglass Statue Torn Down in Rochester, N.Y., on Anniversary of His Famous Fourth of July Speech

  In 1852, Douglass asked the city’s residents and the country: ‘What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July?’

• 
• SOURCE: Wall Street Journal
  7/4/2020
  

  How a Lincoln-Douglass Debate Led to Historic Discovery

  Just like that, a document apparently unknown to Douglass’s biographers and not found in the orator’s papers at the Library of Congress had landed squarely in the middle of the debate that has swept the nation and the neighborhood around Lincoln Park where the statue stands.

• 
• SOURCE: Spectrum News
  10/25/19
  

  Nothing Can be Salvaged From Frederick Douglass' Time Capsule

  The city historian said material in the time capsule dates back to 1898, with additional items being added in 1941, but nothing can be salvaged.

• 
• 7/21/19
  

  Do We Want the America of Frederick Douglass or Donald Trump?

  by Walter G. Moss

  Which kind of America do we want? A “composite nation” that takes pride in its ethnic and religious diversity and sets an example for other countries who are fearful of immigrants? Or an America afraid of immigrants, especially if not lily white, Christian ones, as Trump and many of his followers desire?

• 
• SOURCE: Time
  7/3/2019
  

  'What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?': The History of Frederick Douglass' Searing Independence Day Oration

  Douglass’ message — about America struggling to live up to the lofty goals it set for itself at the founding — continues to be relevant.

• 
• SOURCE: The American Interest
  6/5/19
  

  Three Recent Books Examine Frederick Douglass' Legacy

  by Allis Radosh

  Frederick Douglass: America’s Prophet by D.H. Dilbeck, Frederick Douglass: Self-Made Man by Timothy Sandefur, and Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight all offer a different interpretation of Douglass. 

• 
• SOURCE: Times Literary Supplement
  3/19/19
  

  The self-made man

  by Manisha Sinha

  Manisha Sinha on the long and eventful life of Frederick Douglass.

• 
• SOURCE: Democracy Now!
  2/15/19
  

  Video of the Week: Ibram X. Kendi on Surviving Cancer & His Anti-Racist Reading List for Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam

  And the legacy of Frederick Douglass on his 201st birthday.

• 
• SOURCE: Smithsonian.com
  2/14/19
  

  "The North Star" Launches with Keisha N. Blain as Editor-in-Chief

  Through written content, podcasts, video broadcasts, and an app, the new North Star editorial team plans to explore issues of civil rights, human rights, and social justice in America and around the world.