Frederick Douglass in Rochester
If you walk through the streets of Rochester, New York, you will quickly discover this city’s commitment to youth development, sustainability, and racial justice. At the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park, you might see people ice skating in the winter or children frolicking in one of the many water spray parks in the summer. You might notice the cyclists, joggers and families out walking around the city in part due to Rochester’s Active Transportation Plan, a commitment to make the city more generally accessible. While visiting Rochester’s downtown, perhaps you will witness the success of minority and women-owned businesses as you walk by the numerous statues of Frederick Douglass that have recently been placed throughout the city. These are just some of the ways that the city and its people have demonstrated a commitment to their community.
Frederick Douglass knew there was something special about Rochester, drawn there by its active black community in 1847. Douglass’s influence can be seen throughout the city, from his statues and walking tour to the Frederick Douglass Institute for African and African American Studies and the Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport. While Douglass may have influenced the city, Douglass was also inspired by it.
When he arrived in Rochester, he believed in integration, wanting his children to be educated alongside white children. But local black leaders, such as Austin Steward, prioritized elevating Black Americans and focused on equal rights as citizens, especially the right to vote. As historian Larry Hudson noted, “There was little room in Rochester for a non-voting, Black abolitionist.” Rochester’s Black activists profoundly impacted Frederick Douglass’ thinking, demonstrated most clearly by Douglass’ well known speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” delivered in front of a packed crowd in Rochester in 1852. His answer to this question is that the Fourth of July is “a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim.”
The people of Rochester, New York have a proud tradition of standing against such injustices by supporting and helping those who fought for freedom and racial justice through the Underground Railroad, anti-slavery societies, and supporting Black suffrage. The city continues to stand for equality and racial justice and proudly honors its history.