Reading Frederick Douglass on July 3rd
A public reading of one of the 19th century’s most famous speeches will take place at noon on July 3rd, 2018, at the Strawbery Banke Museum Visitor’s Center in Portsmouth.
“What to the Slaves is the Fourth of July?” asked Frederick Douglass in 1852.
Douglass, one of our nation’s greatest orators and abolitionists, was asked to speak at an event commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
In his provocative speech, Douglass said, “This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.” And he asked, “Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day?”
Douglass’s speech remains emotionally powerful and thought-provoking more than a century and a half after he gave it.
People of all ages and different walks of life are asked to gather at noon at the Tyco Visitor Center on Hancock Street to take turns reading parts of the speech until the entire speech has been read.
Community leaders around the country participate in these readings—people such as town officials, teachers and activists, the police and fire chiefs, and heads of key organizations come together with ordinary neighborhood folk.
“Reading Frederick Douglass,” says Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail Founder Valerie Cunningham, “causes us to think in new ways about our nation’s history. It’s a great opportunity to open-up a dialogue about race and citizenship, and raises awareness of the role slavery continue to play in our history and national discourse today.”
Libraries, churches, historical societies, community service groups, social justice organizations, and schools are encouraged to see this exhibit and participate in the reading at 12 PM on July 3rd in Portsmouth.
This free public event is sponsored by the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire and Strawbery Banke Museum.
