What was frederick douglass known for

He also poses problems, however, for devotees of certain brands of black solidarity. White abolitionists were key figures in his remarkable journey to national and international prominence. A freeborn black woman, Anna Murray helped her future husband escape enslavement and, after they married, raised five children with him and dutifully maintained households that offered respite between his frequent, exhausting bouts of travel.

Their marriage seemed to nourish them both in certain respects, but was profoundly lacking in others. Anna never learned to read or write, which severely limited the range of experience that the two of them could share. Two years after Anna died in , Douglass married Helen Pitts, a Mount Holyoke College—educated white former abolitionist 20 years his junior. They tried to keep the marriage quiet; even his children were unaware of it until the union was a done deal. But soon news of it emerged and controversy ensued.

But the marriage outraged many blacks as well. The journalist T. His picture hangs in our parlor, we will hang it in the stable. Some give him a pass for what they perceive as an instance of apostasy, while others remain unforgiving. That Douglass is celebrated so widely is a tribute most of all to the caliber and courage of his work as an activist, a journalist, a memoirist, and an orator.

It is a testament as well to those, like Blight, who have labored diligently to preserve the memory of his extraordinary accomplishments. Ironically, his popularity is also due to ignorance. Some who commend him would probably cease doing so if they knew more about him. Frederick Douglass was a whirlwind of eloquence, imagination, and desperate striving as he sought to expose injustice and remedy its harms.

All who praise him should know that part of what made him so distinctive are the tensions—indeed the contradictions—that he embraced. Skip to content Site Navigation The Atlantic. Popular Latest. The Atlantic Crossword. Due to the Civil War and his efforts to recruit black soldiers for the Union Army, Douglass stopped printing his newspapers in His last newspaper, The New National Era , was published from to In , Douglass was appointed U.

Marshal for the District of Columbia. From — he served as U. Anguish and grief, like darkness and rain, may be depicted, but gladness and joy, like the rainbow, defy the skill of pen or pencil. In doing so, Douglass went on to become a great writer, orator, publisher, civil rights leader and government official.

Douglass authored three autobiographies, with his first and best-known, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave , published in Learn more about Douglass and his legacy at www. Want more great national park stories and news? Join our email list and get them delivered to your inbox.

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