Irvington Historical Society Presents “Frederick Douglass in his Times and Our Own”, a talk by David W. Blight, Sterling Professor of History, Yale University.
From the 1840s to the end of his life in 1895 at the age of 77, Frederick Douglass attained international fame as an unparalleled abolitionist, feminist, educator, editor, diplomat and orator. He was the most photographed American of the Nineteenth Century, and it is likely that more Americans heard Douglass speak than any other public figure of his time. He lived to see Black emancipation, to work actively for women’s rights long before they were achieved and the triumphs and tragedies of Reconstruction. He also lived to the age of lynching and Jim Crow laws, when America collapsed into retreat from the very victories in race relations he had helped win. His remarkable life spanned the era, and he saw great advancement and great loss for his causes.
Prof. Blight’s talk will draw on his Pulitzer Prize winning book, FREDERICK DOUGLASS: PROPHET OF FREEDOM (2018). Based on a near-lifetime of study, as well as documents in a private collection no other researcher has referenced, Blight’s powerful portrait is considered the definitive biography of Douglass.
Date and Time: Friday, December 3, 2021, at 7:00 p.m
Location: Irvington High School Auditorium, 40 North Broadway
Admission is free — Book signing
Masks and Proof of Vaccination Required