Anna Murray Douglass (1813 – August 4, 1882) was an American

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

, member of the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. ...

, and the first wife of American social reformer and statesman

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 ...

, from 1838 to her death.

Early life

Anna Murray was born in Denton, Maryland, to Bambar(r)a and Mary Murray. Unlike her seven older brothers and sisters, who were born in slavery, Anna Murray and her younger four siblings were born free, her parents having been manumitted just a month before her birth. A resourceful young woman, by the age of 17 she had established herself as a laundress and housekeeper. Her laundry work took her to the docks, where she met Frederick Douglass, who was then working as a caulker.

Marriage

Murray's freedom made Douglass believe in the possibility of his own. When he decided to escape slavery in 1838, Murray encouraged and helped him by providing Douglass with some sailor's clothing her laundry work gave her access to. She also gave him part of her savings, which she augmented by selling one of her feather beds. After Douglass had made his way to Philadelphia and then New York, Murray followed him, bringing enough goods with her to be able to start a household. They were married on 15 September 1838. At first they took Johnson as their name, but upon moving to New Bedford, Massachusetts, they adopted Douglass as their married name. Murray Douglass had five children within the first ten years of the marriage: Rosetta Douglass, Lewis Henry Douglass, Frederick Douglass, Jr.,

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 ...

, and Annie Douglass (who died at the age of 10). She helped support the family financially, working as a laundress and learning to make shoes, as Douglass's income from his speeches was sporadic and the family was struggling. She also took an active role in the

Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society The Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society (1833–1840) was an abolitionist, interracial organization in Boston, Massachusetts, in the mid-19th century. "During its brief history ... it orchestrated three national women's conventions, organized a mult ...

and later prevailed upon her husband to train their sons as typesetters for his abolitionist newspaper, ''

North Star Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris ( Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an apparent magnitude tha ...

''. After the family moved to

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in W ...

, she established a headquarters for the

from her home, providing food, board and clean linen for fugitive slaves on their way to Canada. Murray Douglass received little mention in Douglass's three autobiographies.

Henry Louis Gates Henry Louis "Skip" Gates Jr. (born September 16, 1950) is an American literary critic, professor, historian, and filmmaker, who serves as the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African Amer ...

has written that "Douglass had made his life story a sort of political diorama in which she had no role". His long absences from home, and her feeling that as a relatively uneducated woman she did not fit in with the social circles Douglass was now moving in, led to a degree of estrangement between them that was in marked contrast to their earlier closeness. Hurt by her husband's liaisons with other women, she nevertheless remained loyal to Douglass's public role; her daughter Rosetta reminded those who admired her father that his "was a story made possible by the unswerving loyalty of Anna Murray."

Later life and death

After the death of her youngest daughter Annie in 1860 at the age of 10, Murray Douglass was often in poor health. In August 1874, she visited the family of Gibson Valentine, residing in the far northeastern corner of Maryland. After staying with the family for two or three days, she returned to the Elkton Railroad Station to catch a train. There, according to the Cecil Whig, it became generally known that she was at the Station. There was "quite a flutter" and "a great curiosity to see her was manifested", according to the newspaper. She died of a stroke in 1882 at the family home in Washington D.C. She was initially buried at

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 ...

in Washington, D.C., but the cemetery closed in 1894 and on 22 February 1895, she was moved to Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, New York. Frederick Douglass was buried next to her after his death on 20 February 1895.

Notes

Spelled "Banarra" in some sources. Douglass was at the time still known by his birth name, Frederick Bailey. He changed his name to Douglass after his escape, because as a fugitive slave he was at risk of recapture.

Early life

Marriage

Later life and death

See also

Notes

References

Further reading