When he was an old man, in the late 19th century, Frederick Douglass was asked what younger African-Americans should do about racism. "Agitate! Agitate! Agitate!" he replied.
That must be the best three-word autobiography ever written, for it is the story of his life. And the life of this Maryland-born slave, who became a great voice for freedom, remains as inspirational today as it is significant.
"He was without question the most important African-American leader and personality of the 19th century," writes historian Waldo E. Martin Jr. in the book that accompanies "Majestic in His Wrath," a lively, well-organized, instructive exhibit at + Washington's National Portrait Gallery.
The show opened earlier this month -- appropriately, since February is Black History Month because of Frederick Douglass. In 1926, the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and ++ History instituted a "Black History Week" (later expanded to a month) in February because it was the month in which Douglass and Lincoln were born. It was also the month in which Douglass died, in 1895.
The exhibit, which commemorates the centennial of his death, ++ doesn't uncover new information on Douglass. "To the extent that his life can be known, it's been known for a long time," says Frederick Voss, historian at the Portrait Gallery and the show's curator. It does, however, cover his life in a thorough and interesting way.
Those who expect a portrait gallery show to be nothing but portraits will be surprised. While this one has its share of portraits, lots of other material keeps it lively: scenes of places where Douglass lived (including Baltimore and the Eastern Shore), cartoons, war scenes, a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, a Frederick Douglass doll and a sheet-music cover of "The Fugitive's Song," with a picture of Douglass escaping slavery.
Douglass' story is told on these pictures' labels. Born in February 1818 (the exact date is unknown), he was first owned by Aaron Anthony, manager of the Talbot County estate Wye House, which still exists. Of the early part of his slavery, he later wrote, "I have nothing cruel or shocking to relate of my own personal experience." But later, under harsher masters, he was repeatedly beaten, leaving lifetime scars.
Sent to Baltimore to serve the brother of one of his owners, he was briefly given reading lessons by the brother's wife, Sophia Auld. These soon stopped, owing to her husband's disapproval, but Douglass continued to teach himself to read in secret and obtained a copy of "The Columbian Orator," which taught him speaking skills.
At 20, Douglass escaped, aided by a free black woman who subsequently became his wife, Anna Murray Douglass. They first settled in New Bedford, Mass. In 1841, attending an abolitionist convention on the island of Nantucket, he was asked on the spur of the moment to relate his experiences. He later wrote that his remarks were awkwardly delivered, but his gift for expressing himself was clear, and he quickly became one of the leading speakers for the cause of freedom.
Abolitionist leader Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote of seeing him for the first time in the 1840s: "He stood there like an African prince, majestic in his wrath, as with wit, satire, and indignation .. he graphically described the bitterness of slavery and the humiliation of subjection to those who . . . were inferior to himself. Thus it was that I first saw Frederick Douglass, and wondered that any mortal man should have ever tried to subjugate a being with such talents, intensified with the love of liberty."
Douglass' speeches might seem long-winded today, but they are typical of the oratory of their time, Voss says. "They're very Victorian, with lots of long sentences. He adopted what were then the prescriptions for eloquence. But one can isolate some sentences that are very strong indeed."
Including these: "The existence of slavery in this country brands your republicanism as a sham, your humanity as a base pretense and your Christianity as a lie. . . . It fetters your progress; it is the enemy of improvement; the deadly foe of education; it fosters pride; it breeds insolence; it promotes vice; it shelters crime; it is a curse to the earth that supports it; and yet you cling to it as if it were the sheet anchor of all your hopes."
The passage is from his most famous speech, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" delivered July 5, 1852, in Rochester, N.Y. (to which he had moved). He refused to speak on the Fourth.
Douglass not only made speeches. For 15 years, beginning in 1847, he published a newspaper, first called North Star and then Frederick Douglass' Paper. In 1845, he published the first version of his autobiography, "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass," which he was to revise three times.
He was also an untiring advocate of women's rights. "Right is of no sex -- Truth is of no color," read the motto of the North Star.
