Frederick Douglass

@ National Portrait Gallery

Unidentified Artist

Description

Born near Easton, MarylandAt the close of the Civil War, Frederick Douglass continued to fight for the rights of blacks and women; both causes had made him the most prominent black leader of his generation. And his continued affiliation with the Republican Party of the late Abraham Lincoln won him such political appointments as delegate to Santo Domingo in 1871, marshal of the District of Columbia in 1877, recorder of deeds for the district in 1881, and minister to Haiti in 1889. A year and a half after the death of his first wife, Anna, Douglass married Helen Pitts in 1884. The marriage was controversial because Helen was white and nearly twenty years younger. Douglass countered the racial criticism by pointing out that Helen was merely the color of his father.

Type:

Image

Format:

Wood Engraving On Paper

Rights:

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

View Original At:

http://collections.si.edu/search/results.htm?q=record_ID=npg_NPG.72.7&repo=DPLA