Join a Douglass Reading This Summer

Events planned for June and July.

Since 2009, Mass Humanities has supported public readings of Frederick Douglass’s influential address, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” around the Commonwealth. This year, more than 20 Massachusetts communities will host events that bring neighbors together to read the speech and discuss its ongoing relevance.

The Reading Frederick Douglass Together events this summer are made possible by “A More Perfect Union,” a special initiative of the National Endowment of the Humanities designed to demonstrate and enhance the critical role the humanities play in our nation.

Readings and the discussions that follow can take many formats, but each event features a group of people gathered to read portions of the speech. The reading provides an opportunity to open up discourse between community members about race, democracy, and our responsibilities to the past and to each other.

Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery in 1838 and lived for many years in Massachusetts. He delivered the Fourth of July speech on July 5, 1852, in Rochester, New York, to the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society.

“In Massachusetts, we know that an honest reckoning with difficult chapters in our history can heal and strengthen our communities,” said Brian Boyles, Executive Director of Mass Humanities. “We need to hear and heed Douglass’s words now more than ever.”