On February 20, 1895, Frederick Douglass attended a meeting of the National Council of Women in Washington, D.C. During that meeting, he was brought to the platform and given a standing ovation by the audience. Shortly after he returned home, Frederick Douglass died of a massive heart attack or stroke in his adopted hometown of Washington, D.C. He is buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, New York. Source: frederickdouglass.org ********************************************************** “To those who have suffered in slavery I can say, I, too, have suffered...To those who have battled for liberty, brotherhood and citizenship I can say, I, too, have battled. And to those who have lived to enjoy the fruits of victory, I can say, I, too, live and rejoice.” - Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass is perhaps the most influential African American during the nineteenth century. Surviving the horrors of slavery, he escaped to freedom and became a key figure in the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation. Not only did he fight for the full integration of Blacks into the American society, but he also actively supported the Women’s Rights movement. From early youth, Douglass was of the conviction that education was a useful and necessary tool in the fight to end discrimination and oppression in America. Using the power of rhetoric as his platform, Douglass gained the attention of lawmakers which resulted in social and political reforms. His impact on the abolition movement, here and abroad remains his crowning achievement. When asked what course of action black youths should follow in the face of continuing racism in this country, Frederick Douglass replied, "Agitate. Agitate, Agitate!"
Gone but not Forgotten
Frederick Douglass was interred in Mount Hope Cemetary, Rochester's premier memorial park, in 1895. The grave can be found in Section T, Plot 26; a helpful marker guides visitors from the cemetery's internal thoroughfare, Fifth Avenue.
Douglass's grave and that of his fellow abolitionist, suffragist Susan B. Anthony are the two most-visited sites in this picturesque Victorian cemetery.