Frederick Douglass Cedar Hill

Frederick Douglass in his Cedar Hill library. FREDERICK DOUGLASS NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, FRDO3886. c.1890, photographer unknown.

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Douglass wrote his third autobiography, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass and many of his speeches in his Cedar Hill library. He was an avid reader and drew heavily from contemporary newspapers, pamphlets, the Bible, and Shakespeare for the content and style of his speeches.

The library bookshelves have over 2000 volumes. Topics cover government, literature, biography, religion, history, and science. In 1892, a reporter for the Cleveland, Ohio newspaper, Gazette, interviewed Mr. Douglass. "the Sage of Anacostia," as he was known.

While at his residence, the reporter asked him who his favorite authors and poets were. Douglass responded with these poets; William Shakespeare, Lord Byron, Robert Burns, William Cullen Bryant, John Greenleaf Whittier and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. His favorite writers were Victor Hugo, Sir Walter Scott, Charlotte Bronte, Alexandre Dumas, and Theoldore D. Weld.