Frederick Douglass

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 Home Washington,DC National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Welcome to Cedar Hill, the home of Frederick Douglass. A little more than a century ago Frederick Douglass, one of the most commanding figures in America's battle for equal rights, came to live in Washington, D.C. This black American and former slave lived at Cedar Hill, a beautiful Victorian home on the heights overlooking Anacostia with a view of the U.S. Capitol. Douglass, who never attended school, was wholly self-educated and became an eloquent spokesman for oppressed people, black and white. As a young man Douglass fled from slavery and worked tirelessly for abolition. In the years following the Civil War, he was the conscience of national politicians, never failing to remind them of the promises that they had m a d e to the country's black citizens. As an advocate of women's rights, he was o n e of the first to join the movement, urging women to remember that blacks, like w o m e n , knew what it was to be without a political voice. And in his final years at Cedar Hill, he continued the reading and writing that was so important to his life's work. two places for this: a library in the main house and a small, one-room structure he called the "Growlery," which stood a short distance behind the main house. The Growlery was a special spot for Douglass. Inside could be found a large fireplace in which a few logs usually burned, a desk filled with books and papers, and a leather couch w h e r e he could stretch out to ponder or rest. T h e Growlery was reconstructed in 1 9 8 1 and is now open to the public. The Growlery: Douglass always made certain that he had the time and a place to be alone to think and work in peace. H e had A Douglass Chronology 1817 or 18 is born in Talbot County, Maryland, in February, exact date unknown; son of a slave woman and unknown white man; is christened Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey 1835 is hired out as a carpenter to a Baltimore shipbuilder; meets many of Baltimore's free blacks, among them Anna Murray 1838 leaves Baltimore in September to go to freedom in the North; marries Anna Murray in New York City; settles in New Bedford; Mass., at end of month and adopts surname of Douglass, taken from Sir Walter Scott's Lady of the Lake 1841-47 becomes prominent in abolition movement and friend of aboiitionist William Lloyd Garrison; gives lectures throughout New England and New York; publishes Narrative of the Lite of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave in 1845; in August leaves for Europe to escape slave hunters now that he and his owner are revealed in his autobiography; English friends purchase his freedom November 30, 1846; returns to United States a national figure; begins publication of the North Star, later renamed Frederick Douglass' Paper, in Rochester, New York, in 1847 1855 publishes My Bondage and My Freedom, second autobiographical volume 1863 in wake of Emancipation Proclamation issues his "Men of Color, to Arms!" urging free blacks to volunteer for the U.S. Army; meets with President Abraham Lincoln on treatment of black soldiers 1881-84 Anna Murray Douglass dies, 1881; publishes Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, third autobiographical volume; marries Helen Pitts, a white woman, 1884 1868 works for election of Ulysses S. Grant as President and again in 1872 1872-81 moves to Washington, D.C,and purchases house at 316 A Street, NE; purchases Cedar Hill, 1876; and breaks "whites only covenant in doing so; becomes U.S. Marshal of District of Columbia in 1877; becomes recorder of deeds for District of Columbia in 1881 1889 speaks on 26th anniversary of Emancipation Proclamation and denounces national government for having abandoned black Americans; appointed minister-resident and consul-general to Haiti; resigns this post in 1891 1894 gives lecture, "The Lesson of the Hour," against lynching 1895 dies at Cedar Hill, February 20 Cedar Hill After Douglass's death in 1 8 9 5 , his second wite, Helen Pitts Douglass, spared no effort in preserving Cedar Hill intact as a memorial to him. T h e Frederick Douglass Memorial and Historical Association, which she organized in 1 9 0 0 , joined forces with the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs in 1 9 1 6 to open the house to visitors. In 1 9 6 2 the National Park Service was entrusted with the care of the house and its continued preservation was assured. The Visitor Center: Tours of Frederick Douglass H o m e begin at the visitor center, which contains exhibits and audiovisual programs that reflect Douglass's life and work. A small sales area stocks publications and other items pertaining to Douglass. Public restrooms with facilities for the handicapped are also located here. Parking is available adjacent to t h e building. O r g a n i z e d groups should contact the Frederick Douglass H o m e for tour reservations in advance. Call 8 8 9 1 7 3 6 or 4 7 2 - 9 2 2 7 . How to Reach Cedar H i l l : Frederick Douglass H o m e can best be reached by crossing the 11th Street Bridge. Go south on Martin Luther King, Jr. A v e n u e to W Street. Turn left and continue four blocks to the visitor center parking lot. If you c o m e via I-295, use the Pennsylvania A v e n u e Exit. G o east two blocks to Minnesota A v e n u e . Turn right on Good H o p e Road, then turn left at 14th Street and continue to W Street. T h e house is open daily except January 1 and D e c e m b e r 25. Administration: Frederick Douglass H o m e is administered by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. T h e superintendent's address is National Capital Parks East, 1 9 0 0 Anacostia Drive, S E , P.O. Box 3 8 1 0 4 , Washington, D.C. 2 0 0 2 0 . :: GPO 1982-361-578/116