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Frederick Douglass – A true American hero…

I’m currently reading “The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass”, and I must say, although I have always appreciated his accomplishments and admired him for his perseverance and tenacity as he moved from slavery to freedom, and then on to being a passionate herald for the freedom and equal right of others, over the past few weeks my eyes have been opened to his astounding skills as both a writer and orator. The fact that his cause resonates deep within me makes this revelation even more satisfying.

The quote shown above is from the introduction penned by George L. Ruffin. I couldn’t help but smile upon reading his statement about the value of historic newspapers as primary source material. While I personally prefer the label “contextual-source material”, he certainly seems to grasp the point – and the fact that Douglass himself was a long-time publisher of what we now refer to as rare & early newspapers only adds to the statement’s relevance.

Considering much was also written about (and by) Frederick Douglass in the newspapers [1] of his day, please forgive me if I indulge readers of this blog with related posts over the next few months. At my age, placing the quest to explore more about his life on the backburner would likely be tantamount to tossing it into the recycling bin. Therefore, there is no time like the present. Thanks in advance for your understanding. If anyone would like to contribute a post regarding his life and can tether it to a newspaper (or newspapers) from the past, please be in touch (guy@rarenewspapers.com).

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2 Comments To "Frederick Douglass – A true American hero…"

#1 Comment By Jonathan Allen On 08/19/2022 @ 6:14 pm

Tim, this is Absolutely Brilliant. It’s difficult to contain my anticipation of the rest of your blog on this subject. …If you have any recommendations for secondary biographies, those would be greatly appreciated also. But meanwhile, Thank you for embarking on this project!
Best regards,
Jon

#2 Comment By GuyHeilenman On 09/01/2022 @ 12:34 pm

Jon, this is Guy. Thank you. I do not have anything to recommend at this point, but I plan to continue to read biographies on his life (including autobiographies – he has three), and I’ll be happy to let you know my two-cents worth of thoughts.