"Consider Freedom: Reflecting on the Meaning of Independence Day" on July 5, 2013 at the Stowe Center

On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass, a former slave and leading abolitionist, begged the “race question” at an event in Rochester, NY, commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence. “Fellow-citizens,” he began, “why am I called upon to speak here to-day? 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 to-day? What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July?”*

The Stowe Center continues to mark the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation with special readings of Douglass’ “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” and Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation on July 5 before each tour. Join sites across southern New England as we listen to these historic speeches and consider their relevance today.

  

Consider Freedom:
Reflecting on the Meaning of Independence Day

Friday, July 5 9:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.  
Readings before each tour
Stowe Visitor Center 

For more information, visit Consider Freedom on the Stowe Center website

  “I have never been so naïve as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle. Race is an issue this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. To work for 'a more perfect union' we need to start to understand complexities that we've never really worked through. [This] requires a reminder of how we arrived at this point.”- Barack Obama at Constitutional Hall in Philadelphia

 

*courtesy of MassHumanities