Reading Frederick Douglass

On July 5, 1852 (before the Civil War) Frederick Douglass, a former slave and leading abolitionist, stunned his hosts in Rochester, New York, at an event commemorating Independence Day: "Fellow citizens, why am I called upon to speak here today? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak today? What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July?"  Certainly not freedom in 1852.

         Thursday, July 2 at 7:00 p.m.

Cambridge Historical Society’s Warner Lodge

49 School St., Jeffersonville, VT

Varnum Memorial Library and Cambridge Historical Society invite Lamoille Residents to read Frederick Douglass’ fiery speech together.  Community members are invited to read a paragraph in the communal reading.  Please contact Donna Rooney at auntdonnaroo@gmail.com or call (802)730-4655 to confirm a reading segment. 

Discussion will follow led by Bob Walsh, author of The Other America: the African American Experience; and Through White Eyes: Color and Racism in Vermont and Hal Colston, Vermont’s Man of the Year.

Presented by the Varnum Memorial Library and the Cambridge Historical Society.

For more information, visit www.thevarnum.org or call (802)644-2117.