Black History
A Look At Frederick Douglass’ Home Almost 100 Years After National Shrine Declaration
Tara Buckner visited the Washington, D.C. home of abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglass during a business trip to the nation’s capital in 2018. She still remembers the elegant wallpaper, the curated collection of family heirlooms, and the china.
“I believe he brought it back from the islands,” she said. “And, they have it all set up in the pantry.”
Douglass moved into the house which he called Cedar Hill in 1877. In 1922 it was declared a National Shrine, and the federal government recognized the hilltop home in the Anacostia neighborhood as a National Historic Site in 1988.
During a library reading, biographer David Blight, who won a Pulitzer for Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom, shared with the audience the historical context for Douglass’ commitment to living in Washington. Blight recalled that it was the winter of 1866 and Republicans had appointed a committee to study Reconstruction, seeking ways to stabilize the formerly enslaved and ensure access to opportunity.
“In the midst of those hearings, Douglass is in Washington,” Blight said. “He didn’t live here yet. He’s not going to live here until 1872…although right at the end of the war he was trying to get to Washington, he was trying to get to the center…he was trying to get somewhere near or inside Republican politics if he could.”
According to Blight, Douglass — an admired statesman — led a delegation of 12 other Black leaders to the White House to see President Andrew Johnson. They did not have an appointment but asked for one which Johnson granted. However, Johnson was not “terribly welcoming.”
Blight stated, “But what ensued that day was probably one of the worst encounters between a group of Black leaders and an American President ever, in our history.
It was a disaster one might say.”But, Douglass was not dissuaded. When Rutherford Hayes was elected, Douglass became the marshall of the District of Columbia. It marked the first time a Black man successfully received a federal appointment requiring Senate approval.
Douglass’ ability to overcome a lifetime of discrimination is why Buckner felt compelled to visit the home which Douglass had purchased for $6,000.
She remarked, “His experience coming out of having been separated from his mother at a young age, being flogged, sneaking to learn to read and write speak to the very existence of the terrible life of slaves.”
With the growing popularity of Juneteenth, Douglass’ famous speech in 1852 questioning the relevance of the Fourth of July to the enslaved has received renewed interest. Yet, for Buckner, whose daughter was born on the holiday, the Fourth now has added meaning.
“I feel as a descendant of slaves…every day is a question so for me to have my baby on the Fourth solidifies my story as an American in this country,” she explained.
But despite what Douglass queried in his speech, Buckner in 2020 can claim the Fourth of July and “rejoice” along with many others, in part, because of his “extraordinary” accomplishments and sacrifices often first envisioned at the quiet respite he called home.
Black History
Why the Statue of Liberty Sculptor Placed A Chain at Its Feet Instead of in the Left Hand
One of America’s most iconic landmarks includes an homage to slavery, and the little known
fact is raising eyebrows as Black Americans observe the Juneteenth and the Fourth of July
holidays.
The Statue of Liberty has stood on Liberty Island in New York Harbor as a “symbol of enlightenment … lighting the way to freedom and down the path of liberty” for 139 years. But few Americans are aware that a chain rests at the feet, and the original drawings reportedly placed them in the left hand of the statue.
When Frenchman Edouard de Laboulaye – an abolitionist – proposed presenting the statue to the United States as a gift from the people of France, sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi agreed with Laboulaye’s goodwill gesture and began to conceptualize the idea for the monument. Both men wanted to recognize the end of slavery, and Bartholdi had intended to place a chain in the statue’s left hand to represent the end of slavery and oppression.
Instead, he placed them at her feet to symbolize liberty breaking free from bondage.
During a recent interview, Dr. Joy DeGruy – an internationally known researcher and educator – stunned many African Americans with the background about the original drawings which triggered her reluctance to visit Liberty Island when a friend, who managed New York’s landmarks for the Interior Department, invited her.
DeGruy said, “When I go there, I’m going there with the knowledge that the Statue of Liberty was holding originally in her left hand broken chains – commissioned in 1865, a pretty important date – end of slavery, end of the Civil War, all of the things were why she was the Statue of Liberty.”
DeGruy recalled that she and her friend went “into the basement of the Statue of Liberty, and we find the document encased in glass behind figurines facing a wall in the hallway.”
Batholdi, the sculptor, had apparently encountered resistance to his idea of placing the chains in the left hand, which would have been a more visible display, but he insisted that the chains remain a part of the statue.
“The agreement was, ‘We will keep the chains, but we’ll make it so no one can see them,’” DeGruy explained.
According to The Statue of Liberty website, “To symbolize the end of slavery, Bartholdi placed a broken shackle and chains at the Statue’s foot.”
After DeGruy’s discovery and frustration that the chains were not mentioned during tours, she began to tell the story of the chain at the feet of the Statue of Liberty. Eventually, she said she received a call from the Interior Department’s staff, and they apologized, adding, “We have been negligent.”
Now, when tourists visit the Statue of Liberty, the park rangers include information about the chain and their significance.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order that will provide support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and establish a White House Initiative on HBCUs to “deliver high-quality education to a growing number of students.”
According to the White House, the Initiative will help develop private-sector partnerships, institutional development and workforce preparation in technology, health care, manufacturing and finance.
The president and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, Dr. Harry L. Williams said, “Today’s executive order serves as strong reaffirmation of President Trump’s support of investment of historically Black colleges and universities. This executive order should serve as a call-to-action for corporations, foundations, members of Congress and state lawmakers to redouble their efforts to support HBCUs and their students. TMCF looks forward to continued engagement with the administration and Congress to deliver results for HBCUs and the students they serve via appropriations and other legislative actions.”
On the same day, Trump signed another executive order that removes safeguards for African American schoolchildren by eliminating an Obama-era initiative to protect Black schoolchildren from excessive disciplinary action.
During the Obama administration, the first Black president’s administration created guidelines that sought to prevent school discipline from having a disproportionate effect on minority students. Trump revoked the civil rights initiative during his first term and Biden did not formally restore it.
At his signing today, Trump said his decision was especially important to the current Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who held the signed order.
“Under the Biden-Harris Administration, schools were forced to consider equity and inclusion when imposing discipline,” McMahon said in a statement. “Their policies placed racial equity quotas over student safety – encouraging schools to turn a blind eye to poor or violent behavior in the name of inclusion.”
She added, “Disciplinary decisions should be based solely on students’ behavior and actions.
Studies show that Black students are punished more often than their white counterparts.
The I.R.S. Moves to Allow Churches to Endorse Political Candidates, Ending A Decades-long Ban
Why the Statue of Liberty Sculptor Placed A Chain at Its Feet Instead of in the Left Hand
Trump Signs Executive Orders That Will Impact HBCUs and Black Schoolchildren
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