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Caption: Frederick Douglass
Additional Description: This 1844 portrait of Frederick Douglass hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.

“Frederick Douglass became the first nationally known African American in U.S. History by turning his life into a testimony on the evils of slavery and the redemptive power of freedom. He had escaped from slavery in 1838 and subsequently became a powerful witness for abolitionism, speaking, writing, and organizing on behalf of the movement; he also founded a newspaper, the North Star. Douglass's charisma derived from his ability to present himself as the author of his own destiny at a time when white America could barely conceive of the black man as a thinking and feeling human being. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is not only a gripping nonfiction account of one man's struggle for freedom; it is also one of the greatest American autobiographies. This powerful portrait shows Douglass as he grew in prominence during the 1840s.” — National Portrait Gallery.
Submitted: May 2, 2015, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland.
Database Locator Identification Number: p306856
File Size: 1.319 Megabytes

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