Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
The papers of Frederick Douglass, abolitionist, orator, journalist, diplomat, and public official, were acquired by the Library of Congress by transfer and gift. The collection consists chiefly of papers in Douglass's library at the time of his death in 1895. They relate principally to his career during and after the Civil War. Most of his earlier papers were destroyed when his house in Rochester, New York, burned in 1872. Books and papers that Douglass accumulated after moving to Washington were preserved by his second wife, Helen Pitts Douglass, at their home, "Cedar Hill," in the Anacostia area of the District of Columbia. In 1900 Helen Douglass formed the Frederick Douglass Memorial and Historical Association to maintain the home and its contents after her death. In 1916, the association joined with the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs to assure the preservation of the home and library as a monument to the black leader and provide access to the papers by visitors and scholars. In 1940, the Historical Records Survey of the Work Projects Administration (WPA) published a calendar of the Douglass writings included in the collection.
The papers then at Cedar Hill were microfilmed by the Library of Congress in 1945. Since that time, some items have become separated from the collection. Collation of the 1945 microfilm with the Douglass Papers as they now exist at the Library of Congress has been made and, where appropriate, photocopies have been made from the film and substituted for items missing from their proper location among the papers.
In 1962, the Congress of the United States declared "Cedar Hill" to be a national historical building, and ownership of the house and its contents was transferred to the National Park Service. Preparatory to renovating the newly-acquired home, the Park Service removed the papers and stored them in a warehouse in Alexandria, Virginia. Some were sent to the Park Service's restoration office in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. The Park Service transferred the papers to the Library of Congress between 1972 and 1974. A small addition given to the Library by Fannie Douglass in 1973 was organized and described with the main collection received from the Park Service.
Significant additions were given in 1975 by Douglass's great-granddaughter, Mrs. Ann Weaver Teabeau, and by Fannie Douglass and the National Park Service. Alice V. Coffee and Opal M. Pollard gave additional material in 1978. Further additions were transferred to the Library by the National Park Service in 1978 and by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission in 1988. The Library purchased material from 1976 to 2019.
Processing History
The papers of Frederick Douglass were arranged and described in 1974. Material received in 1975 was organized as Addition I. Material obtained between 1978 and 1997 was arranged and described in 1997 as Addition II. Material obtained between 2014 and 2019 was arranged and described in 2019 as Addition III.
Transfers
One print has been transferred to the Library's Prints and Photographs Division where it is identified as part of these papers.
Related Material
Douglass correspondence is also located among the papers of his contemporaries whose collections are also in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress, such as Frank G. Carpenter, Zachariah Chandler, Salmon P. Chase, Grover Cleveland, Anna E. Dickinson, Hamilton Fish, James A. Garfield, Ulysses S. Grant, Benjamin Harrison, Abraham Lincoln, William McKinley, Louis T. Michener, the Reid family (Whitelaw Reid's papers), John Sherman, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lewis Tappan, Booker T. Washington, Carter G. Woodson, and the records of the Frederick Douglass Memorial and Historical Association.
Microfilm
A microfilm edition of part of these papers is available on thirty-four reels. Consult reference staff in the Manuscript Division concerning availability for purchase or interlibrary loan. To promote preservation of the originals, researchers are required to consult the microfilm edition as available.
Online Content
The papers of Frederick Douglass are available on the Library of Congress Web site at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/collmss.ms000009.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container or reel number, Frederick Douglass Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.