Profile of the Day: Frederick Douglass

Posted February 20, 2015 by Amanda | No Comment

Frederick Douglass

Today we remember abolitionist Frederick Douglas, who died on February 20, 1895.

Douglass was born into slavery in Talbot County, Maryland. Although the exact date of his birth is unknown, Douglass chose to celebrate it on February 14. At the age of 12, his master’s wife, Sophia Auld, began teaching him the alphabet, despite state law that prohibited teaching slaves to read. He continued to secretly teach himself to read and write, believing that “knowledge is the pathway from slavery to freedom.”

After two failed attempts at escaping from slavery, Douglass finally succeed on September 3, 1838 with the help of Anna Murray, a free black woman. They married on September 15, 1838 and adopted the surname Johnson to disguise Douglass’ identity. They later settled in a free black community in New Bedford, Massachusetts and adopted the name Douglass.

A great orator, Douglass quickly became one of the most important leaders of the abolitionist movement. He wrote several autobiographies about his experiences as a slave and his life after the Civil War.

Frederick Douglass is connected to over 87 million people in Geni’s World Family Tree. How are you related?