Each year on the Fourth of July, the Edgartown Federated Church hosts a reading of Frederick Douglass’s speech, The Meaning of the Fourth of July for the Negro.
Frederick Douglass
2024
June 27, 2024
For the 20th consecutive year, Renaissance House will host a reading of Frederick Douglass’s 1852 speech What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July on July 4.
2023
July 4, 2023
More than 40 volunteers took turns Tuesday morning, reciting sections of the over 10,000 word address that Frederick Douglass first delivered to the Rochester Sewing and Anti-Slavery Society on July 5, 1852.
July 3, 2023
On the fifth anniversary of the Federated Church’s dedication as part of The African-American Heritage Trail of Martha’s Vineyard, 14 Island residents gathered in the space to recite Frederick Douglass’s speech What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?
2022
July 3, 2022
Frederick Douglass died over 100 years ago, but his words were very much alive Saturday at the Federated Church in Edgartown.
2021
August 19, 2021
This Saturday, the pioneering abolitionist, feminist and master orator visits the Tabernacle stage again, in Roger Guenveur Smith’s one-man show, Frederick Douglass Now.
July 1, 2021
Each year on the Fourth of July, the Edgartown Federated Church hosts a reading of Frederick Douglass’s speech, The Meaning of the Fourth of July for the Negro.
