Frederick Douglass
b. Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey
(1817-1895)
Back to
Realism / Naturalism
To those
who have suffered in slavery
I can say I, too, have suffered.
To those who have battled for liberty, brotherhood and citizenship
I can say I, too, have battled.
Frederick Douglass
Abolitionist, Writer, and Orator
|
|
Frederick Douglas is the most famous African American of
the 19th
Century. His life spanned nearly eighty years, from the time that slavery
was universal in American states to the time it was becoming a memory.
Douglass freed himself from slavery, and through decades of tireless efforts he
helped to free millions more. His life was a testament to courage and
persistence that continues to serve as an inspiration to those who struggle in
the cause of liberty and justice.
-
USA 1967. Frederick Douglass. The stamp is used, and
considerably enlarged.
-
Painting of Frederick Douglass.
|
|
| In 1845, he published The Narrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglass, an autobiography that revealed his master's identity and
threatened the former slave's freedom. He fled to England that same year,
where his stirring antislavery oratory motivated British friends to raise
enough money to buy his freedom.
Douglas returned to America in 1847 and
founded an antislavery newspaper, the North Star, in Rochester, New York.
During the Civil War, he helped recruit blacks for the Union Army and met
with President Abraham Lincoln on several occasions to discuss the
problems of slavery.
|
|
-
USA 1995. First Day Cover, cancelled in Gettysburgh,
Pennsylvania, 29th June 1995. The
original painting is by Chris Calle. The reverse of the FDC
contains historical background text.
Frederick Douglass lived and worked in Rochester, NY, for most of his public
career. After the close of the Civil War he moved to Washington DC to
publish a New National Era, to carry on his work on behalf of African Americans.
He served Washington in many ways, in international affairs, in the Council of
Government for the District of Columbia, and finally as US Marshal for the
District. In 1877 he purchased the home which he named Cedar Hill, the
location of the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site.
Sources and links:
The Frederick Douglass National Historic Site
1411 W Street, S.E.
Washington, DC 20020-4813
(202) 426-5961
Other Realist artists on this site:
Back to
Realism / Naturalism