Frederick Douglass (1818-1895)
West Chester, Chester County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Champion of human freedom, African American abolitionist, newspaper editor, U.S. Colored Troops recruiter, U.S. ambassador to Haiti, and orator, Frederick Douglass gave his last public address "Against Lynch Law" here on February 1, 1895. A frequent visitor to West Chester, Douglass denounced lynching and bigotry and urged freedom, justice, and equality for all Americans. The Frederick Douglass Institute here maintains Douglass' legacy.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Frederick Douglass, who escaped slavery to become the nation's most powerful abolitionist voice, was a frequent visitor to West Chester across his long career as an orator, editor, and diplomat. Here on February 1, 1895, he delivered his final public address, "Against Lynch Law," condemning the racial terror sweeping the post-Reconstruction South. He died just weeks later, making these words among the last of a lifetime spent demanding freedom and justice for all Americans.
Why it matters
That Douglass closed his life still fighting against lynching underscores how the promises of emancipation remained unfulfilled, and how one voice carried the cause across the whole arc of the nineteenth century.
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Related people
- · Frederick Douglass
Related events
- · "Against Lynch Law" address, Feb. 1, 1895
Themes & tags
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