“Frederick Douglass, Prophet of Freedom,” David W. Blight, 2018

This is a big book about an important figure in American History.  The author had extensive access to the Douglass archives, so the level of detail was nothing short of amazing.  I found the writing to be somewhat dense, but the subject matter was so fascinating that it more than made up for the author’s style.  The book won numerous awards, including the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for History.

Like most biographies, this one chronicles the major events in Douglass’s life.  It presents, sometimes in unsettling detail (an understatement) Douglass’s childhood memories of slavery.  It shows his struggles to gain literacy and his strong desire to reach for the best life he could.

Later sections covered Douglass’s work as an abolitionist, a writer, a newspaper publisher, and a sought-after public speaker.  During his life, Frederick Douglass was one of the most photographed public figures in America.  He was famous in England as well as in the US.  He met with Lincoln and Grant and campaigned for many candidates.  Both prior to and after the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Constitutional Amendments, his support for black suffrage was unrelenting.  He frequently spoke to crowds numbering in the thousands.  He was reviled and demonized in the South.  

Since much of his correspondence was preserved, we have access to records of Douglass’s personal feelings and of thoughts he shared with his contemporaries.  David Blight presents detailed accounts of not only Douglass’s public struggles but also his concerns about his family and friends.  We learn about rivalries and infighting within the abolitionist movement.  Later, as the Jim Crow South worked to undermine every agreement thought settled by the US Civil War, we see Douglass’s unflagging efforts to maintain and enhance civil rights for African Americans.

Though this is a detailed biography of Frederick Douglass, we meet many important figures from 19th century American history in its pages.  Douglass knew and worked with major members of the political class as well as people like W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, Booker T. Washington, and so many others.  We also encounter members of his extended family and his correspondents, both in the US and abroad.

The more I read, the more I felt fortunate to learn a little about such an important man.  Simultaneously, however, I felt puzzled.  Frederick Douglass was a man of immense stature and social significance.  He was brilliant.  He was articulate.  He overcame the most hideous of obstacles to become successful and famous.  He (literally) worked until the day he died.  By any measure, Frederick Douglass exemplified personal triumph over adversity.  

Yet over and over again, as I read this book, I wondered, “Why was so little of this covered in school?  Why am I only now reading about these events?  Why am I only now meeting these people?”

I am glad I waited no longer.