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
2025
July 7, 2025
As July Fourth celebrations took place around the Island over the weekend, so did a Vineyard tradition that lifts up the words and legacy of Frederick Douglass, the famed orator, abolitionist and former slave.
June 25, 2025
Union Chapel will host a discussion Thurdsay with a direct descendant of Frederick Douglass. The event is part of Douglass week, which honors the legacy of noted abolitionist.
Frederick Douglass in Massachusetts — A Conversation with the Douglass Family takes place on June 26 and features Kenneth B. Morris Jr., the great-great-great grandson of Mr. Douglass, and Dr. Noelle Trent, CEO of the Museum of African American History
This talk is organized through the Globe Lane Initiative, a US-based nonprofit organization with roots in Ireland.
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.
