Reading Frederick Douglass Together 

July 18, 2021, at 2 p.m.

on The Lawn at Loring Greenough House

What to 21st-century America is the meaning of Frederick Douglass’ 1852 Independence Day speech? How do we today understand the words of this famed 19th-century abolitionist and rights activist?

Gather with us on July 18 at 2 p.m. on The Lawn at Loring Greenough House, 12 South St., Jamaica Plain, for “Reading Frederick Douglass Together,” a community reading and conversation program based on one of Douglass’ most famous speeches.

On July 5, 1852, in Rochester, N.Y., at the invitation of the Rochester Ladies’ Antislavery Society, Douglass gave what was promoted as “a Fourth of July Oration.” The speech is now widely called “What to the Slave is Your Fourth of July?” based on a question he posed in his address. “Reading Frederick Douglass Together” will use the speech to highlight the continuing significance of Douglass’ caustic indictment of racism and white supremacy that rebuked slavery.

There will be a post-reading conversation with attendees led by historian Byron Rushing, a past president of the Museum of African American History in Boston and a former state representative who served for more than 30 years. Light refreshments will be available.

For more information, and if you are interested in being a reader, email dclark@loring-greenough.org.

“Reading Frederick Douglass Together” is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by the Loring Greenough House, in conjunction with Historic New England, the Jamaica Plain Historical Society, the Roxbury Historical Society, and the Shirley-Eustis House. The program is made possible by a grant from Mass Humanities, which provided funding through the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC).