Communication_Antebellum:

Frederick Douglass and Abolitionist printing

In the early-to-mid 1800s, a group of activists called Abolitionists fought for the end of slavery. These men and women traveled around the country using a variety of tactics such as holding meetings, making speeches, and leading protests to promote their cause. One of the more popular methods abolitionists used was printing. Because of advances in printing presses, abolitionists could quickly and cheaply print out pamphlets, newsletters, and newspapers to help get the word out about ending slavery.

One of the leaders of the abolition movement was Frederick Douglass. Douglass was a powerful speaker, talented writer, and popular organizer during the mid-1800s. His abilities coupled with his experiences as a former slave led him to become the national leader of the abolitionists.

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TITLE:Frederick Douglass

CALL NUMBER:BIOG FILE - Douglass, Frederick [item] [P&P]

REPRODUCTION NUMBER:LC-USZ62-15887 (b&w film copy neg.)
No known restrictions on publication.

SUMMARY:Portrait, head and shoulders, facing right.

MEDIUM:1 photographic print.

CREATED/PUBLISHED:[no date recorded on caption card]

NOTES:

This record contains unverified, old data from caption card.

REPOSITORY:Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

DIGITAL ID:(b&w film copy neg.) cph 3a18122 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3a18122

CARD #:2004671911

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?pp/ils:@filreq(@field(NUMBER+@band(cph+3a18122))+@field(COLLID+cph))

Douglass, a former slave who learned how to read and write, strongly believed in the power of both the written and spoken word. In 1847, Douglass started a newspaper, seen above, called the North Star, to help promote causes that ranged from abolition to education to Women’s rights.

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The North Star


The North Star
(Rochester, New York)
April 7, 1849
Page 2
Newspaper
Serial & Government
Publications Division (99.2) / Many periodicals published before the Civil War were characteristically short-lived and chiefly devoted to the abolition of slavery. An exception was Frederick Douglass's North Star, founded in Rochester, New York, in 1847. The North Star's slogan, "Right is of no Sex--Truth is of no Color--God is the Father of us all, and we are all Brethren," testifies to the broad scope of the newspaper's coverage, including not only emancipation but also women's suffrage and education. In 1851, the paper was renamed Frederick Douglass's Paper and continued for another ten years until Douglass (1817?-1895) was forced to close the paper for financial reasons.

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trr085.html

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=lhbcb&fileName=25385//lhbcb25385.db&recNum=18

Frederick Douglass also published an autobiography. The “Narrative of Frederick Douglass” was one of the most widely-read abolitionist texts from the 1800s.

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The Capital and the Bay: Narratives of Washington and the Chesapeake Bay Region, ca. 1600-1925


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Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave / written by himself.

Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895.

CREATED/PUBLISHED
Boston : Anti-Slavery Office, 1849.

NOTES
"Preface" by W.L. Garrison: p. [iii]-xii.

SUBJECTS
Douglass, Frederick,--1818-1895.
Abolitionists--United States--Biography.
African American abolitionists--Biography

RELATED NAMES
Garrison, William Lloyd, 1805-1879.

MEDIUM
xvi, 125 p., [1] leaf of plates : port. ; 20 cm.

CALL NUMBER
E449 .D749 1849

DIGITAL ID
lhbcb 25385 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gdc/lhbcb.25385

William Lloyd Garrison co-founded the Anti-Slavery Society in 1833 with abolitionist Arthur Tappan. The society wanted to make the cause of abolition more popular nationwide and openly campaign for an end to slavery. Seen here is a broadside (a single printed sheet popular in the 1700s and 1800s) from the Society’s annual almanac.

Each year the American Anti-Slavery Society distributed an almanac containing poems, drawings, essays, and other abolitionist material. This broadside groups together illustrations of the horrors of slavery that were used in the 1840 edition.

"Illustrations of the Anti-Slavery Almanac for 1840" New York: American Anti-Slavery Society, 1840 Broadside Rare Book and Special Collections Division (48)

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/afam006.html

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=ody_musmisc&fileName=ody/ody0316/ody0316page.db&recNum=4

Another way that abolitionists like Frederick Douglass used printing to get their message across was publishing popular songs. In the document printed above, William Wells Brown, himself a former slave like Douglass, writes this poem to begin his songbook.

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African American Odyssey

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The Anti-Slavery Harp: A Collection of Songs for Anti-slavery Meetings.

Compiled by William Wells Brown.

CREATED/PUBLISHED
Boston: Bela Marsh, 1848.

MEDIUM
50 p.

PART OF
African American Odyssey

REPOSITORY
Library of Congress Music Division. Washington, D.C. 20540

DIGITAL ID
musmisc ody0316

RELATED DIGITAL ITEMS
(Abolitionist Songsters)

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/aaodyssey:@field(NUMBER+@band(musmisc+ody0316))