Virginia Hewlett Douglass (June 1, 1849 – December 14, 1889), also known as Virginia Lewis Molyneaux Hewlett Douglass was an African-American suffragist. She was married to Frederick Douglass, Jr.

Biography

Virginia Lewis Molyneaux Hewlett was born June 1, 1849, in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. She was the daughter of the first African-American instructor at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

(from 1859 to ),

Aaron Molyneaux Hewlett Aaron Molyneaux Hewlett (c. 18201871) was the first African American instructor at Harvard University and oversaw the college's gymnasium. He was the first superintendent of physical education in American higher education. Hewlett was instructor ...

and physical education instructor, Virginia Josephine Lewis Molyneaux Hewlett (c.1821–1882). On August 4, 1869, Virginia Hewlett Douglass married Frederick Douglass, Jr. in Cambridge. Together they had seven children, Fredrick Aaron Douglass (1870–1886), Virginia Anna Douglass (1871–1872), Lewis Emmanuel Douglass (c.1874–1875), Maud Ardell Douglass (1877–1877), Gertrude Pearl Douglass (1883–1887), Robert Smalls Douglass (1886–1910), Charles Paul Douglass (1879–1895). When her sister-in-law Mary Elizabeth Murphy (married to

Charles Remond Douglass Charles Remond Douglass (October 21, 1844 – November 23, 1920) was the third and youngest son of Frederick Douglass and his first wife Anna Murray Douglass. He was the first African-American man to enlist in the military in New York during the ...

) died in 1879, Virginia and Fredrick raised their two minor children Charles Frederick and Joseph Henry. In 1877, a petition for

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

support by the District of Columbia African-American community was created and signed by Virginia Hewlett Douglass, Frederick Douglass, Jr., Nathan Sprague, and Rosetta Douglass Sprague. The petition had been part of a movement organized by

National Woman Suffrage Association The National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) was formed on May 15, 1869, to work for women's suffrage in the United States. Its main leaders were Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. It was created after the women's rights movement spl ...

. On September 21, 1881, Douglass wrote a letter to the editor of the ''Washington Sunday Item'' newspaper against school segregation and prejudice. She died on December 14, 1889, at the age of 41, and her death was listed as from

consumption Consumption may refer to: *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically * Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...

. She was buried in

Graceland Cemetery Graceland Cemetery is a large historic garden cemetery located in the north side community area of Uptown, in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Established in 1860, its main entrance is at the intersection of Clark Street and Ir ...

and later moved to Woodlawn Cemetery in Washington, D.C. After her death, her brother Emanuel D. Molyneaux Hewlett took custody of her two minor children, Charles Paul and Robert Smalls.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglass, Virginia Hewlett 1849 births 1889 deaths African-American suffragists American suffragists People from Cambridge, Massachusetts Douglass family Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Washington, D.C.) 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in the United States