A gift from people who had been enslaved
The origin of the fundraising matters to the purpose of the monument: people commemorated the freedom they had lived to experience.
Place · A CLOSER LOOK
Freedmen’s Monument
ABOUT THIS PLACE
The monument in Washington’s Lincoln Park was funded through contributions from formerly enslaved people. Charlotte Scott’s contribution helped begin the fundraising. Douglass delivered the dedication address on April 14, 1876.
This page leads into that address and the relationship behind it. The speech is the destination of the Lincoln–Douglass thread: a retrospective recognition of the man, his development, and what he accomplished.
A CLOSER LOOK
The story behind it.
A commemoration of emancipation, and the occasion for Douglass’s tribute to Lincoln.
The dedication
Douglass’s words give the monument a place in this collection beyond the sculpture itself. They bring the relationship and its history into the act of remembrance.
Sources for this closer look
Memorial (opens in a new tab)Frederick Douglass · Life and Times (1881) (opens in a new tab)A GOOD PLACE TO BEGIN
Start here.
Speech
Douglass at the Freedmen’s Monument
Frederick Douglass · April 14, 1876
A love letter to his friend: Douglass looks back on Lincoln and the distance they traveled.
Explore this work →Explore the place.
Follow the original source to explore the work in its own context.
Footnotes
1. A personal note on the sculpture
When I first heard of the monument, I was intrigued and wanted to see it. When I saw it, I was disappointed in the image. I think Lincoln would not have liked it. I connect that reaction to the Richmond encounter, when he told people not to bow to him. Douglass’s concern about the figure resonates with mine. But dwelling on that misses the point of why it was made and the relationship of Douglass and Lincoln.
The Richmond account and Douglass’s later letter about the monument provide context for this personal reaction. The dedication and the relationship remain the subject of this page.
Sources & credits
Introductions are grounded in the sources below. Collection notes and reading prompts provide an editorial starting point; personal opinions are identified in the collection’s content.