Douglass’s 19th century call to action still echoes
The Greenwich Historical Society is celebrating Black History Month with a series of events that honor efforts in the service of a more just society.
This past week’s Feb. 14 event, held in partnership with the Greenwich League of Women Voters, offered the public an opportunity to participate in the celebration of Douglass Day, a nationwide event that honors the activism of formerly enslaved abolitionist Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) who devoted his life to the struggle for human rights.
Celebrations of Douglass Day began around 1900, inspired by AfricanAmerican activist Mary Church Terrell. These early Feb. 14 events led to the designation of February as Black History Month. Born into slavery, Douglass did not know his exact birth date but chose to observe it on Feb. 14.
Douglass Day celebrations were revived and formalized in 2017. Participation has been growing ever since, with a projected 7,800 participants in 160 locations in 2024. Greenwich is one of these locations.
“Black history is an indelible part of our heritage as a nation and a community,” said Stephanie Barnett, the Greenwich Historical Society’s Associate Director of Public Programs and Community Outreach. “The Douglass Day 2024 Transcribe-aThon, along with other Black History events, enables us to share the stories of remarkable individuals who worked towards racial justice and a more equitable society.”
Deirdre Kamlani, Civics Chair for the Greenwich League of Women Voters, expressed the league’s support as a co-sponsor of the Douglass Day celebration.
“As a non-partisan, non-profit, the League champions voter education, and this event will allow both adults and students to come together to commemorate the life and work of Frederick Douglass and to help create new digital resources for those researching Black history.”
Douglass’s fight for human rights included a deep commitment to the cause of women’s suffrage. He participated in the first women’s rights conference at Seneca Falls, N.Y., in July 1848. And on Feb. 20, 1895, his final day of life, he attended a meeting of the National Council of Women in Washington, D.C. He died a sudden and unexpected death that evening.
Susan B. Anthony delivered a eulogy at his funeral. And Elizabeth Cady Stanton referred to Douglass as a “women’s rights man” in a tribute that Anthony read at the funeral.
Each year Douglass Day participants throughout the country, organized by The Center for Black Digital Research, help create new digital resources for African American history. These resources are free and readily available to the public.
Greenwich participants joined in this year’s attempt to transcribe, in just one day, 8,731 pages of Douglass’s correspondence. Included in these documents from the Library of Congress are letters to family members, activists, politicians, and organizations; his diary; family papers, speeches, newspaper clippings; and a handwritten partial draft of “The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass.”
Also included in the three-hour Douglass Day program are dramatic readings from one of Douglass’s speeches and a presentation about his legacy.
My own personal observance of Douglass Day this week consisted of reflections upon what the Advancement Project National Office has determined to be Douglass’s top quotes. I found each quote to be an inspiration in support of human rights.
“These stories play a pivotal role in connecting us to a past that is having a profound impact on our country and the greater Greenwich community currently and into the future,” said Barnett, referring to the stories told at all the events during the Historical Society’s celebration of Black History Month.
Given the current assault upon the telling of history, especially African American history, Barnett’s words resonate. Delving into the past, uncensored, we find signposts that point to the future.
“I prayed for freedom for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs,” is the Douglass quote that inspired Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel in marching with Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma. “I felt my legs were praying,” Heschel said.
The struggle for freedom is far from over. Just as Douglass’s 19th century call to action inspired Heschel during the 1965 Selma march, it is equally relevant in 2024, a call to continue this struggle in pursuit of justice.
“If there is no struggle,” Douglass said, “there is no progress.”