Frederick Douglass bust unveiled in Massachusetts Statehouse

 A statue of famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass was unveiled in the Massachusetts Senate Chamber on Wednesday, the first statue of an African American to be permanently added to the Massachusetts Statehouse.

It is the first statue to be added to the Senate Chamber in more than 125 years.

Senate President Karen Spilka emphasized the ties that Douglas – who lived in the state briefly and gave speeches in the Senate chamber and Boston's Faneuil Hall – had to Massachusetts.

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He said, "Although he was not born here, in Massachusetts we like to call Frederick Douglass one of our own." "He came to our state escaping slavery. He wanted to come here."

Douglass first heard the news of President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in Boston, he said.

With the statue, Douglass takes his place as a founding father in the chamber and provides some balance in a statehouse that predominantly honors white people, Spilka said, while leaving out the stories of countless people of color.

Noel Trent, president of the Museum of African American History in Boston, also emphasized Douglas's ties to the state.

"This is where he would write his groundbreaking book, 'Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave,'" he said. "This is where he would begin his career as one of the most famous orators of the 19th century."

Senate leaders chose February 14 to unveil the statue. With his exact date of birth unknown, Douglas chose to celebrate February 14 as his birthday. A quote from Douglass – "Truth, justice, liberty and humanity will ultimately prevail" – adorns one wall of the chamber.

Other states have recognized Douglas.

In 2020, Chicago renamed a massive park on the city's West Side after Douglas and his wife, Anna Murray-Douglas. Earlier that year, county lawmakers had voted to rename the airport in Rochester, New York after Douglas. Also in 2020, Maryland unveiled bronze statues of Douglass and Harriet Tubman at the Maryland State House.

Douglass was born into slavery in Maryland in February 1818. His mother died when he was young and he never knew his father. After being barred from attending school, Douglass taught himself to read and, in 1838, dressed as a sailor and with the help of a free black woman, boarded a train and fled north to New York City.

Fearing human traffickers, Douglass, now married to Anna Murray, fled again to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he gained fame as a speaker against slavery with the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. Abolitionists eventually purchased his freedom and the family settled in Rochester, New York.

In Boston in 1845, Douglass published his experiences as an enslaved man in his first autobiography, which became a bestseller.

She also embraced the women's rights movement, helped former slaves escape to freedom via the Underground Railroad, and purchased a printing press so she could run her own newspaper, The North Star.

In 1855, she published her second autobiography, "My Bondage and My Freedom".

Placeholder During the Civil War, Douglass recruited black men to fight for the Union, including two of his sons who served in the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment. A monument to the famous Civil War unit made up of black soldiers stands just across the street from the Massachusetts Statehouse.

He met with Lincoln to press for equal pay and treatment for black soldiers and insisted on ensuring that formerly enslaved people were guaranteed the rights of American citizens during Reconstruction.

He also served in high-ranking federal appointments, including Consul General to Haiti from 1889–1891.

Douglas died of a heart attack on February 20, 1895, at the age of 77.