Education…means emancipation

Rochester has spent the past year honoring abolitionist, orator, and publisher Frederick Douglass, who spent a substantial part of his life here. As part of that observance, Open Mic Rochester and CITY have focused on Douglass’s life and work and asked how well Rochester has lived up to his legacy. In the last of that…

Douglass descendants moving legacy project to Rochester

Frederick Douglass, one of the most important figures in the nation’s history, spent 25 years here, continuing his abolitionist efforts, helping raise a family, meeting with women’s suffrage leaders, and founding his influential North Star newspaper. He bought property here, lived here, and chose to be buried here, in Mt. Hope Cemetery. And yet there…

Rare sheet music inspired by Frederick Douglass obtained by UR

BY DANIEL J. KUSHNER At New York City’s Swann Auction Galleries last March, the University of Rochester successfully bid on a weathered but well-kept book of 17 songs. Perhaps the most intriguing piece in the bound collection of sheet music is a song inspired by abolitionist and long-time Rochesterian Frederick Douglass. According to Autumn Haag,…

Douglass’s fight for voting rights

By Jake Clapp In 1847, when Frederick Douglass moved to Rochester and started his newspaper, The North Star, five states allowed black men to vote: Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. New York also technically allowed them to vote, but strict residency and property ownership laws made it all but impossible. Many of…

Douglass’s Rochester: Voting rights

A long list of problems is suppressing voter turnout in New York State By Jake Clapp Part of a year-long, quarterly series examining how Rochester lives up to the legacy of Frederick Douglass, produced by Open Mic Rochester and CITY Newspaper. Both publications will also have related articles throughout the year. Frederick Douglass knew the…

Douglass statues coming to Rochester streets

By Jake Clapp Frederick Douglass lived and worked in Rochester for 25 years, walking the streets, frequenting local businesses, and talking with neighbors. The fact of his presence will always be a part of Rochester, and now a set of life-sized statues will bring his physical representation to contemporary city streets. The statues, and an…

Frederick Douglass Freedom Festival

The annual Frederick Douglass Freedom Festival is celebrated in June, symbolizing the date of the unveiling of his statue in Rochester on June 9th, 1989. During the opening ceremony, Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren says we can never give enough honor to the memory of Frederick Douglass. His contribution to the eradication of slavery and the stubborn struggle for...

Lifting Hands

The power of the Black Church on American history and today’s families   BY TIANNA MAÑÓN AND MICHELE ASHLEE PHOTOS BY MICHELE ASHLEE The church has long been a pillar of the black community. Certainly, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. heavily relied on it to organize people and spread his message. It was also critical…

Douglass’s Fight for Economic Equality

One of the central figures in African American history, Frederick Douglass, lived and worked in Rochester for 25 years. He is mostly known as an abolitionist and the principal leader of the movement...

The inheritance of freedom

Reflecting on Douglass’s “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” speech [ COMMENTARY ] By Vanessa J. Cheeks Frederick Douglass, on July 5, 1852, took to the stage at Rochester’s Corinthian Hall to deliver a speech to the Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society. He had been invited to commemorate the country’s 76th year of independence….