Tag Frederick Douglass

Fine-line black and white print of Frederick Douglass

The Lost History of Frederick Douglass in Howard County

Kristen B. Leave a comment
Fine-line black and white print of Frederick Douglass

Tue, Nov 1 at 7 pm
Elkridge Branch & online
Register and learn more: bit.ly/hclsdouglass

Internationally known, in life and afterlife, on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean as an orator, abolitionist, editor, suffragist and American reformist, the history and placement of Frederick Douglass in Howard County has not been fully recognized and discussed.

Following the Civil War, Frederick Douglass was invited to speak in Howard County on several occasions. Learn about the relationships and associations Douglass had with several notable Howard County citizens within local and national reform circles of politics, higher education, suffrage, and the church. The presentation includes maps, prints, letters, newspapers, photographs, and other ephemera from local, regional, and national collections and archives. Learn more about Douglass and his connections to local railroads, Wayman Grove, Irving Park, Annapolis Junction, local educators, local preachers, local politicians, local suffragists and students attending Howard University in Washington, D.C. from Howard County, including Ellicott City and Simpsonville.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

John Muller is the author of Frederick Douglass in Washington, DC: The Lion of Anacostia and Mark Twain in Washington, DC: The Adventures of a Capital Correspondent. For the past decade Muller has presented widely on the local history of Frederick Douglass and contributed hundreds of articles to local and national print and online news sources, including the Washington Informer. Muller and Justin McNeil are co-founders of Lost History Associates and currently at work on forthcoming publications on Frederick Douglass in several specific regions and communities in the Mid-Atlantic area.

From US Library of Congress, print of Congress during the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson

The Failed Promise: Reconstruction, Frederick Douglass, and the Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

Kristen B. Leave a comment

“In this engrossing new book, Robert S. Levine has penned a nuanced and detailed study of the ‘hopes and frustrations of Reconstruction’ during Andrew Johnson’s presidency. While focusing on the relationship between Johnson and Frederick Douglass, the author also includes the views of numerous African American writers who witnessed Johnson’s transformation from self-styled ‘Moses to Black People’ to betrayer of Reconstruction. The Failed Promise is a lesson for our times as we continue to confront our nation’s unfulfilled promise of racial equality.” 

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., author of Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy and the Rise of Jim Crow

Tuesday, Sep 21 from 7 – 8 pm online 

HCLS is pleased to welcome author Robert S. Levine as he discusses his new book, The Failed Promise: Reconstruction, Frederick Douglass, and the Impeachment of Andrew Johnson, which tells the story of Frederick Douglass’ heated struggle with President Andrew Johnson over the rights of Black Americans in the years immediately following the Civil War. 

Professor Levine recounts the conflicts that led to Johnson’s impeachment from the perspective of Douglass and the wider Black community. Douglass believed that the Union victory in the Civil War, aided by nearly 200,000 Black soldiers, meant that African Americans should gain the full rights of U.S. citizenship, including the right to vote. Sadly, Black Americans and other minorities are continuing to fight for such rights. Douglass’ struggle with Johnson speaks to the promise and failure of Reconstruction, and to the struggles of our own moment as well. 

Learn more and register at bit.ly/failedpromise

Robert S. Levine is a distinguished University Professor of English at the University of Maryland, College Park. He is the author and editor of a number of books, including The Lives of Frederick Douglass, and he is the General Editor of The Norton Anthology of American Literature, the world’s most widely used American literature anthology. Visit his website for more starred reviews of The Failed Promise as well as a bibliography of his other writings.