Frederick Douglass

American, 1818–1895

Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, and writer. Born into slavery in Maryland, he escaped and became one of the most powerful voices against slavery in the nineteenth century. His Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is a landmark of American autobiography, a searing firsthand account of enslavement that galvanized the abolitionist movement.