Sir Walter Scott Memorial, Edinburgh

Frederick Douglass to William A. White, Edinburgh, Scotland, 30 July 1846:

"You will perceive that I am now in Edinburgh. It is the capital of Scotland -- and is justly regarded as one of the most beatuful [sic] cities in Urope [sic]. I never saw one with which for beauty elegance and grandeur to compare it. I have not time even had I the ability to describe it. You must come and see it if you visit this country. You will be delighted with it I am sure. The monument to Sir Walter Scott -- on pinces street , is just one conglomeration of architectural beauties.

The Calton Hill -- Salsbury Craggs and Arthur Seat give the city advantages over any City I have ever visited in this or your country.

I enjoy every thing here which may be enjoyed by those of a paler hue -- no distinction here."

I confess that I have wanted to see the Scott monument since I read this letter over a decade ago. I also confess that the main reason that I wanted to see it had nothing to do with Douglass or with Scott or with the architectural wonders of Edinburgh.

No, the main attraction of this monument was this:

Not Scott, but the furry companion next to him.:

 

Although he said nothing about the inclusion of the faithful companion, Douglass probably had a fondness for the monument that went beyond his own appreciation for Scott's poetry. After all, remember Nellie Grant?



Brown Street, Cork

In October 1845, Douglass went to Cork, Ireland, where he stayed with the Jennings family. The Jenningses lived on Brown Street, which you can see highlighted on this 1830s ordinance survey map:

The map doesn't identify the street as "Brown Street," but you can see the same street labeled as such on this later map from the 1860s:

Also, not the Father Mathew statue labeled on the right side of the image. The train lines don't run along there today, but the statue still stands:

Unlike the his statue on O'Connell Street in Dublin, this one still has all of its fingers. Douglass actually met Mathew on his Irish tour, but he met him in Dublin, not Cork.

As for Brown Street in Cork today, I'm not certain but I think this is it:

That is a loading dock for the shopping center that stands on the block today. This is a picture of the block from the corner of Coal Quay and Market Street, taken in February 2012 (last month):

With the possible exception of the building on the far right, one can probably safely assume that the block did not resemble this image in any way, shape or form when Douglass visited. There are, however, three bookstores on that block. Of that, he would have approved.

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• Photographs taken by Leigh Fought (me!).
• Maps from Ordinance Survey Ireland, a very cool interactive feature overlaying three historic maps onto a current map, that Prof. Tim Meagher directed me to.: http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,591271,743300,0,10

Frederick Douglass on Ireland

I have traveled almost from the Hill of Howth...

...to the Giant's Causeway...

...and from the Giant's Causeway to Cape Clear.*

During these travels, I have met with much in the character and condition of the people to approve, and much to condemn; much that has thrilled me with pleasure, and very much that has filled me with pain.... I can truly say, I have spent some of the happiest moments of my life since landing in this country. I seem to have undergone a transformation. I live a new life.

-- Frederick Douglass to William Lloyd Garrison, Belfast, Ireland, 1 January 1846, published in Liberator, 30 January 1846, republished in My Bondage and My Freedom (1855).

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*Kinsale's harbor stands in for Cape Clear, here. At this time of year, Cape Clear is a bit dangerous.

Douglass in Belfast

Last weekend, I went on a long weekend to Belfast and points further north. Douglass spent a little time in Belfast during his tour of the British Isles between 1845 and 1847, and had a contingent of support from women in the city when he and the Garrisonians based in Boston had a parting of the ways.

Today, Douglass appears in the scarred Belfast landscape in a mural:

Twice, even, as you can see the younger Douglass up to the left of the older man.  The rest of the mural has interesting references to black history.

Here, on the left side of the mural, you can see slave ships, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Barack Obama (who, incidentally, is very popular in the Republic of Ireland) and Rosie the Riveter, who seems like she might be mixed race or light skinned:

On the right side of the mural, you see references to Martin Luther King, Angela Davis, Nelson Mandela and South African apartheid, Muhammad Ali, and Bob Marley.

You can also see images of the Mothers of the Disappeared, Indian women, what appears to be one of the Grimke Sisters, and Daniel O'Connell. I don't instantly recognize the other figures, and you also can see images from recent Northern Irish history interspersed through the mural.

Daniel O'Connell is the key to understanding the connection between African American history and this mural in Belfast. This mural is one of a series of murals in both Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods, which are separated by a tall wall. The murals on the Protestant side reinforced their connection to the British and participation in the two world wars in the 20th century. The murals on the Catholic side referenced various global freedom and human rights struggles, particularly those against racism. The Douglass mural is on the Catholic side.

Initially, I wondered what a mural featuring Frederick Douglass would be doing in Northern Ireland on the Catholic side. Douglass himself did not mix with many Catholics. His supporters in Ireland tended to be Protestant, usually Quakers. Also, his visit coincided with the beginning of the Great Famine and took place during the Repeal movement, led by O'Connell, which intended to end the Act of Union that made Ireland part of the United Kingdom. In other words, the Irish as a whole had more immediate concerns than ending slavery in the U.S.

During Douglass's visit, those involved with the Repeal movement drew direct connections between American slaves and Ireland under British rule and between African Americans and Irish Catholics. Their positions relative to their respective governments and societies were analogous, according to this argument.

In this mural, you see that argument expanded. Douglass is central but connected to a broader struggle for rights for oppressed people of color. The artists trace this history from the origins of the slave trade through resistance to slavery in the U.S., the U.S. Civil Rights movement, resistance to apartheid in South Africa, opposition to South American dictatorships, and even -- with Muhammad Ali -- resistance to wars of imperialism in Southeast Asia, and all the way to the election of the first black American president. I think the Indian women may have something to do with Indian independence (although, note the absence of Gandhi himself), and Rosie, despite her connection with World War II, may suggest women's rights.

This mural, then, had it appeared in the U.S., might seem like a tribute to great black figures in history, something for Black History Month. Here, in Belfast, among the Catholic murals, a few blocks from the offices of Sinn Fein, and right next to a former checkpoint between the Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods -- Douglass himself looks toward the checkpoint -- it seems to be a statement of ongoing resistance.

Frederick Douglass Hall

In my research yesterday, I came across this letter, dated 4 May 1934:

My dear Friends:
It was pleasant to receive your telegram expressing appreciation of the University’s action in naming its new classroom building after your distinguished grandfather. We are sorry that the notice reached you too late for your attendance. I am happy to report to you that the dedication was well attended, that many eminent persons were present, including six members of the Douglass family. For your full information, I am sending you, herewith, a copy of the University’s news release of the occasion.
With cordial regards and best wishes, I am
Sincerely yours,
Mordecai W. Johnson

What building had been named after Frederick Douglass, might you ask? This one:

The Frederick Douglass Memorial building on Howard University campus, right across the quadrangle from the library in which I was sitting while reading that letter and in front of which I ate lunch (because the Moorland-Spingarn closes for lunch) all week.

Now, I find that I absolutely must locate (wherein "absolutely must" means "it would be cool, but not really necessary except for fun") "L'ouverture Terrace" in Takoma Park. Rosetta Douglass Sprague, Frederick Douglass's daughter, had a home there in the 1890s. Since I have worked in Takoma Park for the past 4 years, finding her home might be rather interesting. If the same house is standing, then I might be able to ascertain the style of living enjoyed by her family at that point in time. Her husband, after all, was supposed to have been a former slave and had to struggle for survival (and respect) in the aftermath of Emancipation and the rise of Jim Crow. That's a story that I'm still trying to tease out.

The "dear Friends" to whom this letter was addressed, Hattie B. Sprague, Fredericka Douglass Perry, and Rosabelle Sprague Jones, were three of Rosetta and Nathan's five children.