The Life and Legacy of Frederick Douglass on July 4th

[REBROADCAST FROM February 22, 2021] We launch the February installment of our "Full Bio" series with historian David W. Blight who joins us to discuss his 2018 Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom. Blight used new information drawn from private collections to explore the work and life of Douglass. We start with a look at Douglass’s early life as an enslaved person and how he learned to read.

*[REBROADCAST FROM February 22, 2021] We continue with our "Full Bio" series with historian David W. Blight, who joins us to discuss his 2018 Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom. In this installment, we learn how Douglass escaped slavery and fled to the North.

*[REBROADCAST FROM February 23, 2021] For the third installment of our February "Full Bio" series, historian David W. Blight describes what made Frederick Douglass such an engaging speaker that he became one of the most powerful voices in 19th century America. Plus, we look at how the prominent abolitionist’s views on slavery evolved in the 1830’s and 1840’s. Blight’s Pulitzer Prize-winning biography is titled, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom. 

*[REBROADCAST FROM February 24, 2021] In the fourth installment of our February “Full Bio” series, we look at Frederick Douglass’s family and friendships. Historian David W. Blight talks about Douglass’s first wife, Anna, their five children (four of whom lived to adulthood), and his long and turbulent friendship with German feminist and abolitionist Otillie Assing.

*[REBROADCAST FROM February 25, 2021] For the fifth installment of February’s “Full Bio” series, historian David W. Blight discusses Frederick Douglass’s political work fighting for abolition and suffrage. We look at his allegiance to the Republican Party, including his working relationship with Abraham Lincoln, and why Andrew Johnson was so dismissive of Douglass. 

*[REBROADCAST FROM February 26, 2021] We wrap up February’s installment of the "Full Bio" series with a look at the last years of Frederick Douglass’s life, including his experience as minister and consul general to Haiti. Historian David W. Blight, author of Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom, describes the reaction to Frederick Douglass’s death in February of 1895 as well as why Douglass’s second marriage to a woman named Helen Pitts became one of the biggest scandals in 19th century America.