Honoring Frederick Douglass
After escaping enslavement in Maryland in 1838, Frederick Douglass spent nearly sixty years fighting to abolish slavery, secure and preserve rights for the emancipated, and pursue suffrage for women among other causes. His public image, which he largely crafted himself, belied the reductive stereotypes of the time and made him a celebrity around the world. Today, his autobiographies and speeches are classics of American literature, inspiring readers to push for human equality and dignity. In the 1800s, however, the most photographed American of the century could often be seen right here in Chester County.
Douglass frequently visited the town of West Chester, where he both rallied and agitated residents with his fiery words. In 1844, as part of William Lloyd Garrison's "One Hundred Conventions" tour, Douglass spoke in the town's market house, after rain forced the proceedings to relocate from Everhart's Grove. Douglass's 1863 speech in Horticultural Hall raised Black volunteers for the Union army. He returned to the hall again in 1875, delivering his "Self-Made Men" speech as the keynote of the annual Chester County Teacher's Institute. In 1895, before an audience of students and townspeople at the West Chester State Normal School, Douglass delivered the final public lecture of his illustrious career.
The normal school's principal, George Morris Philips, first wrote to Douglass in 1893, while the latter was serving as Commissioner of Haiti at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. As an avid book collector, Philips asked Douglass to autograph a copy of his recently published autobiography. Shortly afterward, however, the principal invited Douglass to visit West Chester's campus and speak to the student body. Despite his failing health, Douglass accepted the offer. On February 1, 1895, in the chapel of Old Main Hall, he sternly denounced the growing practice of lynching and systematically undercut the reasoning used to justify it. Though Douglass would not live to address another crowd, his powerful message echoes on campus to this day.
Please visit additional campus offices and organizations who celebrate the legacy of Frederick Douglass at WCU:
Frederick Douglass Institute (FDI) The Office of Equal Opportunity and Compliance
