Frederick Douglass, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July”

Join us on Wednesday, July 3 at 1:00 p.m. with Historian Graham Hodge and JCFPL’s Issac Green to discuss Frederick Douglass’ speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July.” On July, 5 1852, Mr. Douglass delivered this speech in Rochester, New York to express discontent with America’s slavery; his words still resonate with us today.

Graham Hodges, professor of history at Colgate University, looks at two alternative points of view on black history in New Jersey. His books include, New York City Cartmen, 1667-1850 and “Slavery and Freedom in the Rural North: African Americans in Monmouth County, New Jersey, 1660-1860, Black New Jersey: 1664 to the Present Day. Moreover, Graham has published more than 100 short reviews and 13 review essays in various journals, including Reviews in American History, Journal of Urban History, American Historical Review, Journal of American History, Slavery and Abolition, and more.