Robert Douglass Jr. (1809 – October 26, 1887) was an

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

artist and leading activist from

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Biography

Born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, in 1809, Robert Douglass Jr. was the son of the abolitionist and community leaders Robert Douglass Sr., from the Caribbean island of

St Kitts Saint Kitts, officially Saint Christopher, is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Kitts and the neighbouring island of Nevis constitute one ...

, and Grace Bustill Douglass, daughter of

Cyrus Bustill Cyrus Bustill (February 2, 1732 1806) was an African American brewer and baker, abolitionist and community leader. A notable business owner in the African American community in Philadelphia, he also became a founding member of the Free African ...

. His sister was artist and abolitionist

Sarah Mapps Douglass Sarah Mapps Douglass (September 9, 1806 – September 8, 1882) was an American educator, abolitionist, writer, and public lecturer. Her painted images on her written letters may be the first or earliest surviving examples of signed paintings by ...

; he also had four other siblings. Douglass Jr. took a leading role in the

National Colored Convention The Colored Conventions Movement, or Black Conventions Movement, was a series of national, regional, and state conventions held irregularly during the decades preceding and following the American Civil War. The delegates who attended these conve ...

s and served as a secretary at the 1855 Convention. He trained at

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1805, it is the longest continuously operating art museum and art school in the United States. The academy's museum ...

, which rarely admitted black students, and also trained at the

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

while he was visiting London. A student of

Thomas Sully Thomas Sully (June 19, 1783November 5, 1872) was an English-American portrait painter. He was born in England, became a naturalized American citizen in 1809, and lived most of his life in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, including in the Thomas Sull ...

, he went on to mentor his own cousin and fellow artist,

David Bustill Bowser David Bustill Bowser (January 16, 1820, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – June 30, 1900, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was a 19th-century African-American ornamental artist, portraitist, and social activist. He designed battle flags for eleven African ...

. Douglass taught at the

Institute for Colored Youth The Institute for Colored Youth was founded in 1837 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It became the first college for African-Americans in the United States, although there were schools that admitted African Americans preceding it. ...

. An article from 1890 recognised him as a "portrait painter of some merit". He also painted landscapes and is considered Philadelphia's first African-American photographer. Notable works include portraits of abolitionists including

William Lloyd Garrison William Lloyd Garrison (December , 1805 – May 24, 1879) was an Abolitionism in the United States, American abolitionist, journalist, and reformism (historical), social reformer. He is best known for his widely read anti-slavery newspaper ''The ...

and

James Forten James Forten (September 2, 1766March 4, 1842) was an American Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist and businessman in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A free-born African American, he became a sailmaker after the American Revolutionary War. ...

in 1834. His commercial business consisted of sign painting and interior decoration. Little of his work survives. Douglass emigrated to

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

in 1824, with the support of the Haitian Emigration Society of Philadelphia, an organization created by

Richard Allen Richard, Rick, or Dick Allen may refer to: Artists *Dick Allen (poet) (1939–2017), American poet, literary critic and academic *Richard Allen (abstract artist) (1933–1999), British painter *James Moffat (author) (1922–1993), Canadian-Britis ...

and Forten. Douglass also migrated to

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

in the late 1840s but later returned to Philadelphia.

References

External links

*
Robert M. Douglass, Jr.
(memorial). Salt Lake City, Utah: Find A Grave. {{DEFAULTSORT:Douglass, Robert Jr. 1809 births 1887 deaths African-American abolitionists Abolitionists from Pennsylvania African-American artists Artists from Philadelphia Robeson-Bustill family African-American college graduates before 1865 American emigrants to Haiti

Biography

See also

References

External links