See a “Defining Father” through a UDC-based institute’s lens

by Marlene Berlin

This historic Election Day could see the first woman, the first Black woman, and the first person of South Asian descent ascend to the presidency. On this day, we take a moment to remember another defining figure in our nation’s history: Frederick Douglass.

The UDC-based Institute of Politics, Policy and History (IPPH) calls him a “Defining Father,” a term comparable to the “Founding Fathers” of the United States. IPPH is producing a series of talks and lectures about Defining Fathers, and I jumped at the chance to attend the Douglass event in September.

Douglass has fascinated me since I saw production many years ago at Ford’s Theater of Necessary Sacrifices,, a dramatization of conversations between him and Abraham Lincoln. And recently, I read his biography.

The event did not disappoint. A shuttle bus ferried many attendees from UDC to Douglass’s home, Cedar Hill, in Anacostia.

Cedar Hill in the 1890s. You can just make out Frederick Douglass standing to the right of the door. (National Park Service photo)

It was my first visit. The views of DC from the front of his home were quite dramatic. The speaker lineup was no less impressive. The hosts were former DC mayor and IPPH founding director Sharon Pratt, and Michael Steele, former Maryland lieutenant governor and host of MSNBC’s “The Weekend.” They led two experts, David Blight of Yale and Leigh Fought of Le Moyne College, in a wide-ranging discussion of the Douglass and the people and his life.

We learned about how important photography, a new technology at the time, was to Douglass’s fame and reach. (He was most photographed American of the 19th century.) We learned about the women who were instrumental in supporting him, including his wife and abolitionists. The icing on the cake was the actor, Sowande Tichawonna, reciting excerpts of Douglass’s speeches. 

I left the event eager to attend the next event in IPPH’s Defining Fathers Legacy Series. To be alerted to the institute’s events, visit its “contact” page, and scroll down to the sign-up form. 

Douglass in his Cedar Hill library (National Park Service photo)