Outside New Bedford City Hall
133 William St.
New Bedford, MA 02740
This memorial commemorates the noted orator and abolitionist Frederick Douglass. After escaping slavery in Maryland, Mr. Douglass came to New Bedford via the underground railroad. Mr. Douglass and his wife Anna stayed in the family home of Nathan Johnson, a well-to-do free black man in New Bedford.
While in New Bedford, Mr. Douglass changed his name from Frederick Baily to Frederick Douglass to make it more difficult for southern slave catchers to find him.
Mr. Douglass lived and worked in New Bedford between 1838 and 1841. His daughter Rosetta and son Lewis were born here. He was involved with the local black community and preached at the black Zion Methodist Church.
While in New Bedford, a subscription to the Liberator, a publication of the American Anti-Slavery Society, started Mr. Douglass' involvement with the abolitionist movement. Mr. Douglass met William Lloyd Garrison, the editor of the Liberator in New Bedford in August of 1841. Mr. Garrison recognized Douglass' oratory potential and hired him to work for the society. His job was to talk about his experiences and sell subscriptions to the Liberator and the Anti-Slavery Standard, another newspaper.
Through his lectures and his book, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave Mr. Douglass became a world-renown orator and abolitionist.
The Frederick Douglass Memorial in New Bedford was dedicated in October, 1996.
