The Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, administered by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

, is located at 1411 W Street, SE, in

Anacostia Anacostia is a historic neighborhood in Southeast (Washington, D.C.), Southeast Washington, D.C. Its downtown is located at the intersection of Marion Barry Avenue (formerly Good Hope Road) SE and the neighborhood contains commercial and gover ...

, a neighborhood east of the Anacostia River in Southeast

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

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 14, 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He was the most impor ...

, one of the most prominent

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

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 and the Washington, D.C., skyline. In 2017 the site was used to represent Washington, D.C., on its America the Beautiful quarter.

History

Cedar Hill Washington DC View of Washington DC

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 of

Andrew Jackson Downing Andrew Jackson Downing (October 31, 1815 – July 28, 1852) was an American landscape designer, horticulturist, writer, prominent advocate of the Gothic Revival in the United States, and editor of ''The Horticulturist'' magazine (1846–1852). ...

. With the election of President

Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was the 19th president of the United States, serving from 1877 to 1881. Hayes served as Cincinnati's city solicitor from 1858 to 1861. He was a staunch Abolitionism in the Un ...

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. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

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 1877, with a $6,000 (~$ in ) loan from his black friend and former abolitionist Robert Purvis, he purchased the 14-room Victorian home on and named it 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 period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

in the west parlor, which served as the music room.

Works

After moving to his new house, Frederick Douglass read and also wrote his books in the studio that is located in the yard of the house, one of them was 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 abou ...

'', 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 1886, Douglass published the book Three Addresses on the Relations Subsisting between the White and Colored People of the United States, and in 1895 completed his book Why is the Negro lynched?

Marriage with Helen Pitts Douglass

In January 1884, Douglass applied for a marriage license at

District of Columbia City Hall District of Columbia City Hall, also known as Old City Hall and the District of Columbia Courthouse, is a historic building at Judiciary Square in downtown Washington, D.C. facing Indiana Avenue. Originally built for the offices of the governmen ...

before heading to the home of Reverend

Francis James Grimké Francis James Grimké (November 4, 1850 – October 11, 1937) was an American Presbyterian minister in Washington, DC. He was regarded for more than half a century as one of the leading African-American clergy of his era and was prominent in wo ...

and

Charlotte Forten Grimké Charlotte Louise Bridges Grimké ( Forten; August 17, 1837 – July 23, 1914) was an African-American abolitionism in the United States, anti-slavery activist, poet, and educator. She grew up in a prominent abolitionist family in Philadelphia. S ...

, 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 Mount Holyoke College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in South Hadley, Massachusetts, United States. It is the oldest member of the h ...

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."

Death of Frederick Douglass

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 women to be ordained as a Methodist minister in the United States. Early li ...

and Susan B. Anthony. 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, the

National 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. In the 1920s, Black architect William Augustus Hazel was commissioned to restore the house. The restoration was completed in 1922, and is believed to have been the first historic architectural preservation project by a Black architect in the United States. These two 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. In 2017, the site was featured on the 37th quarter in the America the Beautiful Quarters series. The Frederick Douglass National Historic Site is located about a 10-minute walk from the Anacostia Metro station.

References

External links

*
Frederick Douglass.org

"Writings of Frederick Douglass"
broadcast from the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site,

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American Cable television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...

, ''

American Writers The Lists of American writers include: United States By ethnicity *List of African-American writers *List of Asian American writers, List of Asian-American writers *List of Cuban American writers, List of Cuban-American writers *List of Egypti ...

'', 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.