Reading Frederick Douglass Together
A Public Reading of Frederick Douglass's Fourth of July Address
A Public Reading of Frederick Douglass's Fourth of July Address
Saturday, June 29, 2024 | 11 am
On the Grounds of Historic Northampton, 46 Bridge Street, Northampton, MA
Rain date: Sunday, June 30, 2024
Reading Frederick Douglass Together
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Reading Frederick Douglass Together brings people together to read aloud Frederick Douglass’s speech, What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?
Smith College President Sarah Willie-LeBreton will give the opening and closing remarks for the 2024 Northampton event. Come to listen or come to read a passage. Copies of Douglass’s speech will be distributed to all in attendance. The public can take turns reading passages from it in succession. This event is free and open to the public. 200 chairs will be available. Feel free to bring your own chair. The speech was first delivered in 1852, in Corinthian Hall, Rochester, New York to the Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society. The themes addressed in the speech still resonate with Americans more than 150 years after they were written. Now more than ever, the speech forces us to reckon with the legacy of slavery and the promises of democracy. Frederick Douglass had strong ties to the Northampton Association of Education and Industry in Florence and spoke in downtown Northampton in the 1840s about slavery and the abolitionist movement. |
Reading Frederick Douglass Together is a statewide initiative coordinated by Mass Humanities. Now in its 15th year, the program will take place in communities across Massachusetts. The Northampton event is presented in partnership with State Representative Lindsay Sabadosa and other sponsors. Historic Northampton received a Reading Frederick Douglass Together grant from Mass Humanities with funding made possible by the Mass Cultural Council.