糖心传媒

In 1847 Frederick Douglass was getting ready to leave England where he had lived to avoid being recaptured after his escape from enslavement in Maryland. He had crisscrossed Britain for the last 19 months, lecturing on the evils of slavery in his native country. Now that supporters had raised 150 English pounds (about $750 then) to buy his legal freedom, he was able to return to his family in the United States. Yet, his safe passage was by no means guaranteed.

To commemorate Douglass糖心传媒檚 departure from Britain, his close companion and fellow abolitionist, the Englishwoman Julia Griffiths, wrote the 糖心传媒淔arewell Song of Frederick Douglass.糖心传媒� Only two copies of the sheet music are known to exist糖心传媒攁nd one of them was acquired earlier this year by the University of Rochester糖心传媒檚 . In early December, the song will be performed as part of this year糖心传媒檚 celebrations to mark the bicentennial of the birth of the renowned publisher, orator, freedom fighter, and statesman.

David Blight, the Class of 1954 Professor of American History at Yale University and the author of聽(Simon & Schuster, 2018)聽will deliver the keynote lecture as part of the event.

In 1847 when Douglass first arrived in Rochester, he found a bustling city of 50,000. It was here that same year that he launched his abolitionist newspaper the .听糖心传媒�The paper was to be a proud black enterprise,糖心传媒� writes Blight in his new biography.

It was also in Rochester that Douglass gave his most famous speech, 糖心传媒淲hat to the Slave is the 4th of July,糖心传媒� at聽the majestic Corinthian Hall in 1852. 糖心传媒淲hat Douglass crafted and delivered… was nothing less than the rhetorical masterpiece of American abolitionism,糖心传媒� writes Blight.

Over the last few decades, the University has assembled one of the world糖心传媒檚 leading archival collections of rare Douglass materials, including letters, published speeches, Underground Railroad passes that had been used to smuggle slaves to safety, and other ephemera that document and expand upon Douglass糖心传媒檚 history and activity. The collection is part of a larger repository of materials documenting the history of abolition and woman suffrage movements.

Only copy in the United States

The copy of Griffiths糖心传媒檚 song now owned by the University is tucked inside a well-worn, black cloth book including 16 bound pieces of sheet music. Now referred to as the聽, it bears the name of its former owner stamped in gold lettering on its cover. 糖心传媒淔arewell Song of Frederick Douglass糖心传媒� is scored for voice and piano. Griffiths糖心传媒檚 brother, the lawyer T. Powis Griffiths, penned the lyrics.

Having one糖心传媒檚 own sheet music bound was not uncommon in the 19迟丑听century, says Autumn Haag, the University糖心传媒檚 special collections librarian and archivist for research and collections.

What makes this book so valuable is the rarity of the Douglass song. The only other known copy resides at the British Library in London.

Subtitled 糖心传媒淥n Quitting England for America 糖心传媒� the Land of His Birth,糖心传媒� the song decries the United States as a brutish country. England is styled as the 糖心传媒渓and of the free, the land of the brave糖心传媒� while the lyrics lament 糖心传媒淎las! that my country should be America! land of the slave.糖心传媒�

The Griffiths imagine the song from Douglass糖心传媒檚 perspective, concluding that the abolitionist leader needs to return to America and join the fight against slavery, even if it could spell his death.

糖心传媒淪hall I, like a coward, not join the fight? Shrink from the onslaught when battle is raging,聽Scared by the enemy糖心传媒檚 tyrannous might? [糖心传媒�] I will fight on till the foe shall have yielded,聽Or the years of my sojourn on earth have been told,糖心传媒� wrote lawyer Griffiths in Douglass糖心传媒檚 imaginary voice.

Haag says she is struck by the use of martial imagery and words like 糖心传媒渨arfare,糖心传媒� 糖心传媒渂attle,糖心传媒� and 糖心传媒渨eapon,糖心传媒� especially in the last two verses. 糖心传媒淚t feels like the lyrics are already foreshadowing the Civil War,糖心传媒� which was to break out 14 years later.

READ THE LYRICS: Farewell Song of Frederick Douglass
On Quitting England for America糖心传媒攖he Land of his Birth

The book糖心传媒檚 title page shows a stylized image of Douglass, wearing a classical-style toga artfully draped over his left shoulder, meant as an allusion to ancient Greece or Rome. The image, depicting Douglass with a stoic look, sharp jawline, and a bit of a Roman nose, is not a true representation of the man, says Haag.

Was it propaganda? she muses. 糖心传媒淧ropaganda has sometimes negative connotations, but yes. It was written for a purpose.糖心传媒� It was written to remind Douglass糖心传媒檚 supporters in England what he was returning home to, and to highlight to abolitionists in the United States the essential difference between the two countries at the time, says Haag.

How did the rare sheet music end up in America?

Haag has worked to piece together how the book ended up on this side of the Atlantic. In the back of the bound volume, she discovered a newspaper clipping of music, cut out from a Cincinnati newspaper糖心传媒攅nough for Haag to start a genealogical search for its previous owner, a Francis A. Williams in Ohio.

Soon she discovered that Williams was biracial, and one of the first women to graduate from Oberlin College, where she had studied music. She married a Peter H. Clark, one of Ohio糖心传媒檚 most effective black abolitionist writers and speakers.

At this point, the songbook糖心传媒檚 provenance and the song糖心传媒檚 subject begin to intertwine: in 1853 Douglass appointed Clark secretary of the National Convention of Colored Men. Three years later, the Clarks moved to Rochester and took up residence in the Douglass home with their infant daughter, while Clark worked as an assistant on the Frederick Douglass糖心传媒� Paper聽(formerly the North Star). Barely a year later, the young family moved back to Cincinnati where Clark found other employment.

糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 very possible that Francis brought the book along with her to Rochester,糖心传媒� says Haag. 糖心传媒淲hile we don糖心传媒檛 know if she performed the song at the Douglass home, we know that Frederick Douglass played the violin and loved music.糖心传媒�

Of course, there糖心传媒檚 also a chance that the song糖心传媒檚 English author, who seven years earlier had also lived in the Douglass home, had brought another copy. Either way, Haag says, 糖心传媒渨e feel pretty certain that the music was in Rochester before and we糖心传媒檙e bringing it now full circle.糖心传媒�

Acquiring the rare sheet music and continually seeking out other historic Douglass materials, 糖心传媒渋llustrates the University糖心传媒檚 commitment to Frederick Douglass糖心传媒檚 history and legacy,糖心传媒� notes Jessica Lacher-Feldman, the University糖心传媒檚 assistant dean and the Joseph N. Lambert and Harold B. Schleifer Director of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation. 糖心传媒淭his is part of our stewardship of one of the most significant collections of Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony materials that help us understand the political, social, and cultural history of the abolition and women糖心传媒檚 suffrage movements. Rochester was an epicenter for these important movements in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It糖心传媒檚 this legacy that connects Rochester and human rights to this day.糖心传媒�

The song will be performed live on December 3 at 7 pm at the in coproduction with Rochester Institute of Technology as part of the festivities honoring Douglass糖心传媒檚 bicentennial. The event, titled Prophet of Freedom: Honoring Frederick Douglass in Word and Song, will include a lecture with renowned Yale historian Blight.

It糖心传媒檚 not just any musical performance, says librarian Haag: 糖心传媒渨ith just two surviving copies, the music probably hasn糖心传媒檛 been played in the last 100 years.糖心传媒�

Questions raised in Rochester and beyond

Blight consulted the University糖心传媒檚 Douglass collections when he researched his book糖心传媒攕ome 10 years in the making. Referring to the sheet music and its composer, Julia Griffiths, he writes:

糖心传媒淕riffiths was no mere starry-eyed devotee. She was a manager of business affairs, as well as of people. She was a voracious reader and learner, her devotion to radical abolitionism provided what the movement often desperately needed糖心传媒攁stute organization, financial foundation, and an apparently pure commitment to help Douglass go out and be Douglass.糖心传媒�

Incidentally, it was her relationship with Douglass that caused a scandal in Rochester and well beyond. Griffiths, a white Englishwoman, had followed Douglass糖心传媒攁 married man with five children糖心传媒攖o America in 1849 to become his confidante, business manager, fundraiser, and assistant editor of the North Star. Seven years his senior, she even lived for a while in the Douglass household, together with her sister Eliza.

Rumors circulated that their relationship had become intimate. At one point, Douglass and the Griffiths sisters were attacked in Battery Park at the lower tip of Manhattan, with one attacker糖心传媒檚 hitting Douglass in the face.

Blight isn糖心传媒檛 sure of the rumors糖心传媒� veracity.

糖心传媒淭his extraordinary and ultimately untenable situation of an educated white Englishwoman living in the Douglass home and laboring daily with him on his life糖心传媒檚 work, while Anna Douglass raised five children in its midst, leads us to wonder whether the relationship was ever sexual,糖心传媒� writes Blight. 糖心传媒淲e do not know for sure, and perhaps, it does not matter.糖心传媒�

Douglass, for his part, turned the physical attack in Manhattan into an incisive analysis of racism. In his editorials, he sharply maintained the right to associate with anyone in public, including white female friends, calling his attackers the 糖心传媒渂loodhounds of American slavery.糖心传媒�

Fast forward to today: the Douglass lecture on December 3 will take place in the same venue as his funeral in 1895 (Hochstein Hall was then Central Presbyterian Church). That糖心传媒檚 also the same date on which Douglass published the first edition of the North Star聽with coeditor M.R. Delaney in 1847.

The two men wrote 171 years ago that it had long been their 糖心传媒渁nxious wish to see, in this slave-holding, slave-trading, and negro-hating land, a printing-press and paper, permanently established, under the complete control and direction of the immediate victims of slavery and oppression.糖心传媒�

In time, the publication would become the most influential black, antislavery paper of the antebellum period.