Events
Frederick Douglass Day 2021
Welcome Ceremony – 10:30am
Our annual Frederick Douglass Day celebration was once again virtual due to covid restrictions. It was the 10th Anniversary of our amazing Frederick Douglass Statue. The ceremony featured:
Mistress of Ceremonies Brenda Wooden, President of the Frederick Douglass Honor Society
A libation (led by Harriette Lowery) in honor of Douglass and all those who benefitted from his work
Music by Morgan State University, Terron Quailes and the US Navy Band Sea Chanters.
Speakers included Phylicia Rashad, Maryland Governors Martin O’Malley and Larry Hogan, Dr. David Blight (Yale University), Dr. Celeste-Marie Bernier (Edinburgh University), Mayor Robert C. Willey, Talbot County Councilman Corey Pack, Talbot County Free Library Director Dana Newman, Helga Einhorn (Talbot County Public Schools Assistant Superintendent), Rabbi Peter Hyman, Brandon Coleman, and Cameron McCoy.
Terron Quailes shared a collection of remarks by Frederick Douglass.
Children’s Village – 11am
The Children’s Village featured virtual activities for young children offers a wealth of fun as they learn about Frederick Douglass through story time readings by Shauna Beulah, (Talbot County Free Library – St. Michaels Branch Director), Zoom backgrounds, memes and opportunities to win fun experienced-based prizes, from a visit to the Maryland Zoo Baltimore or the National Aquarium, a ride aboard the Oxford Bellevue-Ferry, membership to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum and a variety of gift certificates.
Anna Murray Douglass Portrait Unveiling – 11am
Laura Era unveils her portrait in oils of Anna Murray Douglass as Kenneth Morris, Jr. shares his story about his great-great-great grandmother.
The elegantly framed portrait is presented to Director Dana Newman and donated to the Talbot County Free Library by Ms. Era, owner of the prestigious Troika Gallery in Easton, MD.
The World Honors Frederick Douglass – 11:30 am
The Frederick Douglass Honor Society is pleased to share their new film “The World Honors Frederick Douglass” bringing together people, places, statues and memorials across our nation and abroad paying homage to Frederick Douglass and the footprints he has left over the past two centuries. The first Douglass statue was dedicated in 1899 in Rochester, New York and statues, plaques, and memorials continue to be unveiled around the globe today.
Frederick Douglass Day – Scholars’ Book Reviews – 12:30 pm
Dr. David Blight (Director of the Gilder-Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition, Yale University) reviews Picturing Frederick Douglass written by Dr. John Stauffer, Zoe Trodd and Celeste-Marie Bernier. Dr. John Stauffer, Summer R. and Marshall S. Kates, Professor of English and of African-American Studies, Harvard University reviews Dr. Blight’s Pulitzer Prize Winning biography Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom. Dr. Celeste-Marie Bernier, Professor of U.S. and Atlantic Studies, University of Edinburgh, reviews The Portable Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, edited by John Stauffer and Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Frederick Douglass Day 2021 Live Presentation – 1 pm
Pulitzer Prize Winner Dr. David Blight and Keidrick Roy, a PhD Candidate in American Studies at Harvard University, shared the lecture spotlight. Dr. Blight began the lecture on Frederick Douglass. Following Keidrick Roy’s lecture at 1:30 PM, viewers presented their questions about the Frederick Douglass to our speakers.
Frederick Douglass Day Extras
Marcel Umphrey talks about Frederick Douglass: Real Estate Investor
Chesapeake Forum presents Dr. David Blight’s virtual lecture on Frederick Douglass: In His Time and In Ours
Statues of Change, a film about the making of the Fredrick Douglass and Harriette Tubman statues in the Maryland State House.
Visit The Douglass Tour website to learn more about the Rochester monuments and the Frederick Douglass Airport project.
