Annotated Bibliography

In this article, Frank J. Cirillo writes a brief chronological account of Frederick Douglass’ life. Cirillo includes insight into Douglass’ many careers and influential relationships. He discusses Douglass’ role as a reformer. Including how Douglass advocates not only for the rights of black men, but also for the rights of women and other minorities. Highlighting his focus on desegregation in education, as well as his Civil Rights work. This source should be credible because Frank J. Cirillo is a doctoral candidate in History and holder of the John L. Nau III Jefferson Fellowship at the University of Virginia. This article was published by the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies at Virginia Tech.

This is the obituary of Frederick Douglass that was published in The New York Times on February 21, 1895. Douglass’s death was sudden without any warning. His obituary recalls how he spent his last day, fighting for freedom. His obituary mentions many of his prominent acquaintances, for example, Susan B. Anthony, John Brown, and President Abraham Lincoln. The article recounts Douglass’ lifelong commitment to education and freedom. This source should be credible, even though the author is unknown. Publication by The New York Times, which was founded in 1851.

Frederick Douglass Autobiographies is a collection of three of his narrative works. His work titled Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave was published after his escape from slavery. This work details what life was like for a slave on a Maryland plantation. His writing titled My Bondage and My Freedom takes a deeper look into his life as a slave. It brings to light the life-long internal effects of having been a slave. This writing also contains several of his most famous speeches. The last narrative is the Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, which was written after the Civil War to keep awareness for Civil Rights alive. This narrative highlights many of Douglass’ famous relationships. This source should be credible because it is a detailed chronology of Douglass’ life written by himself. This source is through the Library of America and published by Literary Classics of the United States.

The National Park Service article about Frederick Douglass celebrates the 200th anniversary of his birth. The article is a historical account about his life as a slave and how he escaped. After Douglass escaped, he joined the abolitionist movement. The article covers the Civil War through Reconstruction until his death. The website contains many pictures of Douglass and his family, as well as additional links to historical content. This source should be credible because it is from the National Park Service, which is a part of the United States government. This article was published by the United States Department of Interior and was last updated on March 21, 2018.

In this essay, Lucinda H. MacKethan reviews how Frederick Douglass spent his life striving to become a literate and a free man. She draws from his book Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave to support her essay. Detailing his journey of how he first learned to read and then his journey of how he learned to write. Douglass focuses on his individual right to become educated and uses it as a platform to legitimize and establish his civil rights. MacKethan then describes Douglass’ last journey, his conversion to Christianity. This source should be credible because MacKethan was Director of Creative Writing at North Carolina State University. She has recently retired as Alumni Distinguished Professor of English at North Carolina State University. Her essay was published by Gale Publishing Company, founded in Detroit, Michigan in 1954. Since 2007, Gale Publishing Company’s parent company has been Cengage Learning.

This letter is from Gerrit Smith to Frederick Douglass, one abolitionist to another. The letter concerns a civil rights bill and treatment of black cadets at West Point Academy. Gerrit Smith is calling upon Douglass to assist him in taking action. Smith discusses how not one political party is willing to support the civil rights bill. This letter is a view into an uncommon friendship between men of different colors coming together to battle oppression. This source should be credible because Gerrit Smith is a nationally known social reformer. This letter was written from Gerrit Smith’s Estate in Petersboro, New York. The letter has been digitally produced by The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in New York.