Frederick Douglas

Frederick Douglas was born a slave so there is no accurate record of his date of birth but it is observed on most calenders as February 8,1818 and I wanted to recognize his birthday because he is an Eastern Shore native who made history and overcame his beginnings to achieve great things.He was born near Hillsboro in Talbot County and was seperated from his mother as an infant,and he never knew his father although some sources claim his father was a white man.

As a young boy,he was taken to live at the historic Wye House plantation and shortly thereafter his owners wife taught him some of the alphabet.Douglas then started learning to read from white children in the area and the rest is history.After escaping Maryland and slavery,Douglas went on to become an author and abolitionist and he also held prominent government posts,serving as a US Marshal,a consul for Haiti and bank president.He also worked as a Recorder of Deeds for the District of Columbia.He invited scrutiny in 1884 when he married a much younger white woman who was active in the very early feminist movement.He died in 1895 and was interred in Rochester,New York.At a time when it was illegal for blacks to learn how to read and write,he saw education as a means of freedom and pursued it against all odds.He is not just a part of black history or Maryland history but American history as well.