Douglass Timeline

Scroll to explore a brief timeline of the life of Frederick Douglass.

1895

Dies after speaking at a women’s rights rally in Washington, D.C.

Spends a year in Chicago, representing Haiti at the World’s Columbian Exposition and protesting African-American exclusion at the fair.

Begins two-year post as Minister-Resident and Consul-General to Haiti.

Is appointed U.S. Marshal of the District of Columbia.

Moves to Washington, D.C. after his house in Rochester, New York is destroyed by fire (arson is suspected).

Meets with President Abraham Lincoln to advocate for equal treatment African-American soldiers fighting in the Civil War.

Attends the women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York

Establishes The North Star, the first of his several papers.

Publishes groundbreaking Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, American Slave, the first of his three bestselling memoirs.

Douglass becomes a spokesperson for the Antislavery Society, which fought not only for an end to slavery, but also for women’s rights.

Douglass escapes from slavery, aided in part by his future wife, Anne Murray

After learning the alphabet from his mistress, Douglass became determined to learn how to read and write

Frederick Douglass is born into slavery in Talbot County, Maryland