Frederick Douglass
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Frederick Douglass carte-de-visite, c.1870.
Credit: Jesse Bravo and The Chris Webber Collection of Artifacts and Documents
The son of an enslaved woman and an unknown white man, Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born into slavery in 1818 on Maryland's eastern shore. He was enslaved for twenty years in city households in Baltimore and on Maryland farms. In 1838, he fled north and changed his name to Frederick Douglass.
By the time he arrived on Lafayette Square in 1874, as the newly appointed president of the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company, a bank chartered by Congress in 1865 to safeguard the savings of African American Civil War veterans and former slaves, Douglass was a revered African American leader who published his biography and traveled widely as anti-slavery lecturer. When Douglass saw the Freedman's Bank building for the first time, he compared the experience to the way the Queen of Sheba, an African queen, felt upon seeing the riches of King Solomon. Douglass wrote, "The whole thing was beautiful. . . I felt like the Queen of Sheba when she saw the riches of Solomon, that 'half had not been told me'."
In his new role as president of the bank, Douglass began to familiarize himself with the institution's finances and operations, and learned that the bank was weakened by missing funds and substantial liabilities. In an attempt to strengthen the bank, Douglass deposited $10,000 of his own money in the bank. He also notified Congress, which held the bank's charter, of its insolvency. However, the bank failed in 1874, and with it vanished three million dollars belonging to 61,000 African Americans.
Just a few years later, in 1877, when President Rutherford Hayes appointed him the U.S. Marshal of the District of Columbia, Frederick Douglass became the first African American approved for a Presidential appointment by the U.S. Senate. In his capacity as U.S. Marshal, Douglass was not asked to perform one of the duties often assigned to the position— to formally introduce visiting dignitaries to the President. Though he was urged to resign in protest, Douglass did not and later wrote of his experiences at Lafayette Square's most renowned residence:
I was ever a welcome visitor at the Executive Mansion on state occasions and all others, while Rutherford B. Hayes was President of the United States. I have further to say that I have many times during his administration had the honor to introduce distinguished strangers to him, both of native and foreign birth, and never had reason to feel myself slighted by himself or his amiable wife. . .
Related Images:
 Letter from Frederick Douglass on U.S. Marshal Letterhead Click Image to Enlarge A correspondence of Frederick Douglass in his role as a U.S. Marshal. |
Related Subjects:
Reconstruction
| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| Thomas Greene Bethune [Wiggins], 1849 -1908 | Photograph of blind piano prodigy Thomas Greene Bethune, the first African American artist to perform at the White House. |
| The White House | From slavery to sit-ins.... |
| St. John's Church | Free and enslaved African Americans are married and baptized at the President's parish... |
| Paul Jennings | Paul Jennings |
| Lafayette Square | An enslaved woman buys her freedom and changes the nation's history.... |
| Freedman's Savings & Trust Co. Bank Book | Scan of the cover, back, and two inside pages of bank book from the Washington Branch of the Freedman's Savings and Trust Co. |
| Freedman's Savings & Trust Co. | $3 Million vanish without a trace... |
| Elizabeth Keckly (1818-1907) | Elizabeth Keckly was born into slavery in 1818. She went on to purchase her own freedom and establish a successful dressmaking business. |
| Cane given to Frederick Douglass, c. 1885 | Hand-carved cane with illustrations copied from Douglass’ third autobiography, "Life and Times of Frederick Douglass." |
| "To the Depositors of the Freedmen's Savings and Trust Co." | Notice published in the New National Era from Frederick Douglass to depositors of the Freedman's Savings Bank upon the bank's failure. |
| "The Negro Celebration in Washington" | 1866 article and engraving about Emancipation Celebration in Washington, DC and President Johnson's address. |
Freedman's Savings & Trust Company
| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| Freedman's Savings & Trust Co. Bank Book | Scan of the cover, back, and two inside pages of bank book from the Washington Branch of the Freedman's Savings and Trust Co. |
| Freedman's Savings & Trust Co. | $3 Million vanish without a trace... |
| Cane given to Frederick Douglass, c. 1885 | Hand-carved cane with illustrations copied from Douglass’ third autobiography, "Life and Times of Frederick Douglass." |
| "To the Depositors of the Freedmen's Savings and Trust Co." | Notice published in the New National Era from Frederick Douglass to depositors of the Freedman's Savings Bank upon the bank's failure. |
| "Monument of a Crime - Department of Justice Deserts a Fateful Building" | Transcription of an 1899 newspaper article about the failure of the Freedman's Bank of the demolition of the building. |
| "Dividends for Freedmen" | Transcription of an 1881 newspaper article detailing settlements to be paid to claimants after the Freedman's Bank failure. |
African Americans & the White House
| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| White House Picketers, 1933 | Photograph of demonstrators in front of the White House protesting the jailing of the Scottsboro boys in 1933. |
| Thomas Greene Bethune [Wiggins], 1849 -1908 | Photograph of blind piano prodigy Thomas Greene Bethune, the first African American artist to perform at the White House. |
| The White House | From slavery to sit-ins.... |
| Telegram from Booker T. Washington to President Theodore Roosevelt | Telegram from President Theodore Roosevelt to Booker T. Washington after their controversial dinner. |
| Quilt Attributed to Elizabeth Keckly | Quilt said to be made by Elizabeth Keckly from scraps of Mary Todd Lincoln's dresses. |
| President's House Carpenters' Roll from May 1795 | Payment record for carpenters,including five enslaved men, who constructed the President's House. |
| President Lyndon B. Johnson's Daily Diary- Civil Rights Bill Signing | Scans of pages of President Johnson's daily diary from the day of the Civil Rights Bill signing. |
| Police Arrest Civil Rights Demonstrator | Photograph of a Civil Rights protestor being arrested in front of the White House in 1965. |
| Letter from Frederick Douglass on U.S. Marshal Letterhead | Correspondence of Frederick Douglass in his role as U.S. Marshal. |
| Elizabeth Keckly (1818-1907) | Elizabeth Keckly was born into slavery in 1818. She went on to purchase her own freedom and establish a successful dressmaking business. |
| Civil Rights Movement | The Civil Rights Movement and the 1964 Civil Rights Bill. |
| Civil Rights Leaders Meet with President Kennedy | Photograph of Civil Rights Leaders meeting with President Kennedy in the Oval Office, 1963. |
| "The Negro Celebration in Washington" | 1866 article and engraving about Emancipation Celebration in Washington, DC and President Johnson's address. |
| "The First President to Entertain a Negro, Booker T. Washington Dined" | Article from African American newspaper reporting on Booker T. Washington's dinner with President Theodore Roosevelt. |
| "Memorandum for the Files, Subject: Meeting of Negro Leaders with the President, June 23, 1958" | Memorandum for President Eisenhower's files detailing meeting of Civil Rights Leaders with the President. |
| "Jubilee Singers at the White House" | Photograph of the Fisk Univeristy Jubilee Singers, circa 1881, and transcription of an 1882 newspaper article on their performance for President Chester Arthur. |
Related Websites:
The website for the National Park Service's Frederick Douglass National Historic Site offers a virtual tour of the Douglass home and information about his life.
http://www.nps.gov/frdo/index.htm
The Freedman's Bureau Records at the National Archives
http://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/freedmens-bureau/
The Frederick Douglass Papers at the Library of Congress can be searched by keyword or browsed on this website, which also includes a Douglass timeline and family tree.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/doughtml/
