Greetings from the East Coast, dear reader friends! I apologize for not posting last week…things have been a bit crazy, but good. And right now my sister and I have the privilege of visiting my dear friend and critique partner, Sandra. We’ve been having a wonderful time enjoying her family’s hospitality and exploring historical sites together.
And today…we went to Cedar Hill, Frederick Douglass’s house! No, he wasn’t at home, but with the tour guide’s stories bringing different parts of the house and Douglass’s history there to life, it almost felt like it. In researching the Abolitionist movement these past months, I’ve grown fascinated with this great American orator, statesman, former slave, and abolitionist, and it was such a treat to visit his home today and learn even more about this amazing man. So I thought it would be fun to share a bit of our tour with you! I hope you enjoy this pictorial journey.
Frederick Douglass’s library and original desk and chair
One of my favorite parts of Cedar Hill was Douglass’s personal library, which still holds the beautiful desk he bought secondhand. Our tour guide showed us a photograph of Douglass sitting at this very desk and chair in this room–it looked almost the same then as it does now!
70% of the furnishings and items in the house are original from when Frederick Douglass lived there. We saw everything from a grocery receipt to his own shoes and weights by the chair in his bedroom. Douglass had self-taught himself to play the violin, as with the rest of his education, and the piano in his sitting room still holds one of his violins on top.
Piano with Frederick Douglass’s violin on top
Douglass family grocery receipt: a grand total of $3.15!
Chair in Frederick Douglass’s bedroom–see his shoes and weights on the floor in front?
With Sandra and my sister on the front porch of the Douglass house
The Growlery
The “Growlery” out back proved one of the property’s most surprising features: a tiny, windowless cottage where Douglass a great deal of his time working and writing. It seemed rather a dark and confining place compared to his lovely and comfortable home, but he considered it his “lion’s lair” where he could concentrate undisturbed.
Sandra and I decided most writers probably could use a Growlery!
Do you know much about Frederick Douglass? Which of this photos drew you in or made you want to know more? Please comment and share!
Hi Kiersti, Sandra and Maren! (Waving) What an interesting place! Yes, I could use a Growlery, but it better have air conditioning and heating! What fascinated me most about your post are the weights! I find it strange that a former slave would want to lift weights, in fact do anything that was reminiscent of physical labor. Besides that, I didn’t know anyone lifted weights in that era.
Waving back, Marilyn! Thanks so much for stopping by. 🙂 Haha, yes, heat and air-conditioning would be nice in the Growlery, at least at certain times of year. It does look like there was some type of fireplace–but that wouldn’t help in the summer. I didn’t quite realize people lifted weights in that era either, but since they apparently did it doesn’t really surprise me that Douglass would have–from what I’ve learned he was an extremely motivated and adventurous man, constantly teaching himself and getting involved in new things. We learned yesterday that at the age of 70 or so he even climbed to the top of one of the pyramids in Egypt!
I’ve had this post open since the day you wrote it, but hadn’t had time to read it. I love how you travel and see all these wonderful places. I hope someday to be able to do the same. I definitely need a Growlery. It would be this internet free box where I can only sit and write, not even a clock to distract me.
Ooh, yes–internet free would definitely be a helpful aspect to a Growlery. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by, Jessica!