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The Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, administered by the
In the home, Douglass became a cultivated member of high society. He and his grandson Joseph played the music of 
In January 1884, Douglass applied for a marriage license at District of Columbia City Hall before heading to the home of Reverend Francis James Grimké and Charlotte Forten Grimké, where he married a white woman named Helen Pitts.O'Keefe, Rose. ''Frederick & Anna Douglass in Rochester, New York: Their Home Was Open to All''. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2013: 94. . The marriage, held January 2,Barnes, L. Diane. ''Frederick Douglass: Reformer and Statesmen''. New York: Routledge, 2013: 124. was not approved by most members of either family. Helen's father, an abolitionist who was previously proud to know Douglass personally, never offered his blessing and refused to visit Washington unless he knew his daughter and her husband were out of town.McFeely, William S. ''Frederick Douglass''. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1991: 320. . Douglass had hired Pitts as a clerk in 1882. She was a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and had been a teacher of freed blacks in Virginia and Indiana. Interviewed about her marriage, she responded, "Love came to me and I was not afraid to marry the man I loved because of his color." One newspaper article noted, "Goodbye, black blood in that family. We have no further use for him. His picture hangs in our parlor, we will hang it in the stables."
On February 20, 1895, Douglass attended a women's rights rally in Washington and was escorted to the platform by
Frederick Douglass National Historic Site
official web site
Frederick Douglass.org
"Writings of Frederick Douglass"
broadcast from the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, C-SPAN, '' American Writers'', May 28, 2001. {{DEFAULTSORT:Douglass, Frederick, National Historic Site African-American museums in Washington, D.C. Buildings of the United States government in Washington, D.C. National Historic Sites in Washington, D.C. National Historic Site Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C. National Capital Parks-East Douglass, Frederick National Historic Site Houses in Washington, D.C. Historic house museums in Washington, D.C.
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...
, is located at 1411 W Street, SE, in Anacostia
Anacostia is a historic neighborhood in Southeast Washington, D.C. Its downtown is located at the intersection of Good Hope Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. It is located east of the Anacostia River, after which the neighborhood is na ...
, a neighborhood east of the Anacostia River in Southeast Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
United States. Established in 1988 as a National Historic Site, the site preserves the home and estate of Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...
, one of the most prominent African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
s of the 19th century. Douglass lived in this house, which he named Cedar Hill, from 1877–1878 until his death in 1895. Perched on a hilltop, the site offers a sweeping view of the U.S. Capitol
The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill at ...
and the Washington, D.C., skyline.
In 2017 the site was used to represent Washington, D.C., on its America the Beautiful quarter.
History
The site of the Frederick Douglass home originally was purchased by John Van Hook in about 1855. Van Hook built the main portion of the present house soon after taking possession of the property. For a portion of 1877, the house was owned by the Freedom Savings and Trust Company. Later that year, Douglass purchased the home and expanded its 14 rooms to 21, including two-story library and kitchen wings. The house has an L shape, and its plan is reminiscent of the design ofAndrew Jackson Downing
Andrew Jackson Downing (October 31, 1815 – July 28, 1852) was an American landscape designer, horticulturist, and writer, a prominent advocate of the Gothic Revival in the United States, and editor of ''The Horticulturist'' magazine (1846–5 ...
.
With the election of President Rutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 19th president of the United States from 1877 to 1881, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and as governo ...
in 1876, Douglass hoped for a political appointment, likely postmaster for Rochester, New York, or ambassador to Haiti. Instead, he was appointed marshal for the District of Columbia, a role which he accepted.Oakes, James. ''The Radical and the Republican: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and the Triumph of Antislavery Politics''. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2007: 276. . His appointment to this highly visible position marked the first time a black man successfully received a federal appointment requiring Senate approval. Douglass, however, was not asked to fill many of the roles expected of a marshal. Typically, the marshal would attend formal White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
gatherings and directly introduce guests to the President. Douglass, excused from this role, later complained that he should have resigned because of the slight. Still, the job brought him financial stability, and in 1878, with a $6,000 loan from his black friend and former abolitionist Robert Purvis
Robert Purvis (August 4, 1810 – April 15, 1898) was an American abolitionist in the United States. He was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and was likely educated at Amherst Academy, a secondary school in Amherst, Massachusetts. He ...
, he purchased the 20-room Victorian home on and named it named Cedar Hill. He bought an additional around the property the following year.
In the home, Douglass became a cultivated member of high society. He and his grandson Joseph played the music of Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wo ...
in the west parlor, which served as the music room. Here he also worked on what would be his last autobiographical book, ''Life and Times of Frederick Douglass
''Life and Times of Frederick Douglass'' is Frederick Douglass's third autobiography, published in 1881, revised in 1892. Because of the emancipation of American slaves during and following the American Civil War, Douglass gave more details about ...
'', first published in 1881 and reissued 10 years later. His wife Anna had a stroke in 1882 which left her partially paralyzed; she died on August 4 and Douglass became depressed. "The main pillar of my house has fallen", he wrote to a friend.
In January 1884, Douglass applied for a marriage license at District of Columbia City Hall before heading to the home of Reverend Francis James Grimké and Charlotte Forten Grimké, where he married a white woman named Helen Pitts.O'Keefe, Rose. ''Frederick & Anna Douglass in Rochester, New York: Their Home Was Open to All''. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2013: 94. . The marriage, held January 2,Barnes, L. Diane. ''Frederick Douglass: Reformer and Statesmen''. New York: Routledge, 2013: 124. was not approved by most members of either family. Helen's father, an abolitionist who was previously proud to know Douglass personally, never offered his blessing and refused to visit Washington unless he knew his daughter and her husband were out of town.McFeely, William S. ''Frederick Douglass''. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1991: 320. . Douglass had hired Pitts as a clerk in 1882. She was a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and had been a teacher of freed blacks in Virginia and Indiana. Interviewed about her marriage, she responded, "Love came to me and I was not afraid to marry the man I loved because of his color." One newspaper article noted, "Goodbye, black blood in that family. We have no further use for him. His picture hangs in our parlor, we will hang it in the stables."
On February 20, 1895, Douglass attended a women's rights rally in Washington and was escorted to the platform by Anna Howard Shaw
Anna Howard Shaw (February 14, 1847 – July 2, 1919) was a leader of the women's suffrage movement in the United States. She was also a physician and one of the first ordained female Methodist ministers in the United States.
Early life
Shaw ...
and Susan B. Anthony
Susan B. Anthony (born Susan Anthony; February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906) was an American social reformer and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement. Born into a Quaker family committed to s ...
. He returned to Cedar Hill for an early supper and intended to attend a neighborhood black church. As he was telling his second wife Helen about one of the day's speakers, he suddenly collapsed.
Later history
After Douglass's death, his widow, Helen Pitts Douglass, founded the Frederick Douglass Memorial and Historical Association in 1900. In 1916, theNational Association of Colored Women's Clubs
The National Association of Colored Women's Clubs (NACWC) is an American organization that was formed in July 1896 at the First Annual Convention of the National Federation of Afro-American Women in Washington, D.C., United States, by a merger of ...
joined with the association. These groups owned the house until 1962, when the federal government took the deed to the house through the National Park Service, with the intent of restoring and preserving it.
Also on site are an interpretive visitor center and a reconstruction of Douglass's "Growlery", a small stone building in which he secluded himself while writing and studying.
The Frederick Douglass National Historic Site is located about a 10-minute walk from the Anacostia Metro station.
In 2017, the site was featured on the 37th quarter in the America the Beautiful Quarters series.
See also
*National Museum of African American History and Culture
The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is a Smithsonian Institution museum located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was established in December 2003 and opened its permanent home in ...
* National Museum of African Art
The National Museum of African Art is the Smithsonian Institution's African art museum, located on the National Mall of the United States capital. Its collections include 9,000 works of traditional and contemporary African art from both Sub-S ...
* Alexandria Black History Museum
The Alexandria Black History Museum, located at 902 Wythe St., Alexandria, Virginia, is operated by the City of Alexandria. The building was formerly the Robert Robinson Library, originally constructed in 1940 as the first " separate but equal" lib ...
* Anacostia Community Museum
The Anacostia Community Museum (known colloquially as the ACM) is a community museum in the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington, D.C., in the United States. It is one of twenty museums under the umbrella of the Smithsonian Institution and was th ...
* List of museums focused on African Americans
This is a list of museums in the United States whose primary focus is on African American culture and history. Such museums are commonly known as African American museums. According to scholar Raymond Doswell, an African American museum is "an ...
References
External links
Frederick Douglass National Historic Site
official web site
Frederick Douglass.org
"Writings of Frederick Douglass"
broadcast from the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, C-SPAN, '' American Writers'', May 28, 2001. {{DEFAULTSORT:Douglass, Frederick, National Historic Site African-American museums in Washington, D.C. Buildings of the United States government in Washington, D.C. National Historic Sites in Washington, D.C. National Historic Site Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C. National Capital Parks-East Douglass, Frederick National Historic Site Houses in Washington, D.C. Historic house museums in Washington, D.C.