Join us in Boston, MA, from Sept 28 - Oct 4, 2025!

Tracing Douglass’s footsteps around the world

#DouglassWeek is a collaborative event series celebrating the work and life of Frederick Douglass in different countries around the world. The week is organized by The Globe Lane Initiative in partnership with a wide network of Douglass scholars, historians and researchers, along with artists, musicians, poets, community groups and activists from around the world. Participants respond to the story of Douglass and other changemakers through historical, creative, academic, cultural and other lenses to describe the influence of history on contemporary topics and conversations and create memorable and thought-provoking events and activities. The week includes performances, creative installations and critical discussions addressing the history and impact of Douglass in each location.

The fourth annual #DouglassWeek took place in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where Frederick Douglass travelled multiple times during his life and gave many speeches to excited crowds.

Rochester, the city where the Douglass family lived for 25 years before moving to Washington, DC, in 1872, was a fantastic #DW2023 host city, and we are looking forward to more events there in the next years.#DouglassWeek 2022 commemorated the importance of the Douglass family to DC and explored what their stories mean to contemporary issues of identity, race, independence and equal rights around the world. In 2021, the first #DouglassWeek took place in and around Ireland. We are thrilled to continue our relationships with our many partners and supporters from the last years, and our program will again feature a variety of events and ongoing projects in and around Ireland and the USA and other countries and cities around the globe that were important to Douglass in 2024.

#DW2025 brought the #DouglassWeek community to Boston, Massachusetts, where we explored Douglass’s deep connections to the city’s abolitionist movement and its ongoing influence on freedom struggles today. We are so grateful to everyone who joined us for an inspiring week of discussion, performance, and reflection.

And now, we’re thrilled to announce that #DouglassWeek 2026 will take place in Baltimore, Maryland! We can’t wait to return to the city of Douglass’s early years and continue exploring how his story resonates in communities there today. Stay tuned for updates, programming announcements, and ways to get involved in #DW2026.

Explore our website and social media, and please spread the word — we look forward to seeing you soon in Baltimore!

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