The papers of Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) span the years 1841 to 1967, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1862-1895. The collection consists of correspondence, speeches and articles by Douglass and his contemporaries, a draft of his autobiography, financial and legal papers, and miscellaneous items.

Prominent among Douglass's papers is a draft version of his autobiography, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass , which contains recollections of his formative years and serves as a principal source for the study of his life and work. The collection also contains a diary kept by Douglass during his tour of Europe and Africa in 1886 and 1887. Reflections on the scenery, with frequent reminiscences about two previous trips to Great Britain, reveal Douglass's contemplative nature and provide the only known documentation for certain periods of his life. Other autobiographical material consists of a holograph essay prepared for the National Cyclopædia of American Biography included in a group of undated and untitled speeches and articles by Douglass in the Speech, Article, and Book File.

Although Douglass began his speaking career as an abolitionist, his papers contain only a few examples of his early oratory, mainly copies of contemporary newspaper accounts of his speaking engagements. Douglass continued speaking out against slavery during the Civil War, calling for immediate freedom for slaves and recognition of their full rights to citizenship. After the war, Douglass recommended that political power be used to legislate improvements in education and economic and social conditions not only for former slaves but for women, Chinese immigrants, and other segments of the population as well. Most of his speeches between 1865 and 1895 are included in the collection, either in manuscript or printed form.

During several periods of his life, Douglass tried to influence public opinion through the press as well as lecture tours. First he founded the North Star , an antislavery newspaper published weekly in Rochester, New York, from 3 December 1847 to 17 April 1851. The collection contains holograph copies of many of his editorials and the paper's ledger books. Later publishing ventures, Frederick Douglass' Paper (1851-1860) and Douglass' Monthly (1859-1863), both emanating from Rochester, and the New National Era (1870-1874) published in Washington, D.C., are not represented in the collection.* Speeches and articles by Douglass's contemporaries and others are filed in the Speech, Article, and Book File.

*The Library of Congress publication Newspapers in Microform: United States, 1948-1972 (Washington: Library of Congress, 1973, 1056 pp.) lists repositories where microfilm of Douglass's newspapers is available.

Although the General Correspondence series consists primarily of letters received by Douglass, drafts and retained copies of outgoing correspondence are included as well. Douglass was acquainted with leaders in many areas of public life. Notable among reformers and activists with whom he corresponded are Susan B. Anthony, George T. Downing, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Timothy Thomas Fortune, Henry Highland Garnet, William Lloyd Garrison, J. Sella Martin, Parker Pillsbury, Jeremiah Eames Rankin, Robert Smalls, Gerrit Smith, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Theodore Tilton, Henry O. Wagoner, and Ida B. Wells-Barnett. The published guide to the Frederick Douglass Papers includes an item-index of the General Correspondence series and the correspondence in Addition I.

Increased involvement in politics accompanied Douglass's growing emphasis on civil rights. He served in a variety of appointed positions after the Civil War, and his papers contain correspondence with many of the people connected with or interested in his work, such as Ebenezer D. Bassett, James Gillespie Blaine, Henry W. Blair, Blanche Kelso Bruce, William E. Chandler, James Sullivan Clarkson, Grover Cleveland, William Eleroy Curtis, John Marshall Harlan, Benjamin Harrison, George Frisbie Hoar, and John Van Voorhis. One of the more controversial incidents in Douglass's political career concerned his dispute with the Department of State over maneuvers to acquire Môle Saint Nicolas, a Haitian coastal town, as the site for a naval base. Numerous speeches by Douglass justifying his position on this matter are included in the collection.

Materials relating to Douglass's duties as a commissioner in charge of the Haitian Pavilion at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 are located in the General Correspondence series, the Speech, Article, and Book File, and the Subject File.

Douglass's private life is documented in correspondence with family and friends. Letters written to him by members of his family give an account of the hardships they endured, and correspondents discussing the problems African Americans faced before and after emancipation include Ottilia Assing, Russell Lant Carpenter, Mary Browne Carpenter, and Julia Griffiths, who helped edit the North Star and served as business manager for the paper, Rosine Ame Draz, Martha W. Greene, and the Webb and Richardson families of England, who collected the money to buy Douglass's freedom.

The Family Papers series contains a biographical sketch of Douglass's first wife, Anna Murray Douglass, by their daughter, Rosetta Douglass Sprague, and a small group of papers of Douglass's second wife, Helen Pitts Douglass. Helen Pitts had been active in the woman's rights movement before her marriage to Douglass in 1884 and resumed her speaking career for a short time after his death in 1895. During the period of her marriage she curtailed activities not directly related to her role as Douglass's wife. The Family Papers include drafts of her speeches, research notes, articles, a diary kept when she accompanied her husband to Europe and Africa in 1886 and 1887, diplomas, and certificates. Other material attributed to her is in the Speech, Article, and Book File, and her correspondence is in the General Correspondence series.

An extensive Subject File consists principally of pamphlets, brochures, speeches, reports, broadsides, and newspaper clippings, but includes a few manuscript items as well, such as an appointment book (1867-1869) and an autograph album (1845). Material for this file was most likely accumulated by Douglass reference purposes. Considerable material related to his death was added to the file later.

The Financial Papers and Legal File contain material ranging in date from 1843 to 1928. Included are items relating to Douglass's income from speaking engagements, private loans, and real estate investments. Numerous bills, receipts, checks, and other financial and business papers document the routine of day-to-day life, particularly for the years spent in residence at "Cedar Hill."

The Miscellany series includes invitations to private and public functions, maps, memorabilia, and miscellaneous printed matter.

Addition I includes correspondence and other material chiefly for the period from the 1870s to the 1890s. A large amount of personal correspondence includes letters from Douglass to his daughter, Rosetta Douglass Sprague.

Addition II spans the years from 1846 to 1967, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1846-1899. The papers include correspondence, speeches, printed matter, newspapers, and clippings. Family correspondence includes several letters by Douglass to Harriet A. Bailey of Lynn, Massachusetts. Correspondence of Douglass's first wife, Anna Murray Douglass, and their children, Rosetta and Lewis, is also included. General correspondence includes letters received and sent by Douglass commenting on such topics as meetings with Edwin M. Stanton and Abraham Lincoln in 1863, the Supreme Court's ruling in the Civil Rights Cases in 1883, and his resignation as minister to Haiti. Letters received by Douglass concern his marriage to Helen Pitts in 1884, invitations, and speaking engagements. A copy of a letter of William Lloyd Garrison to Aaron M. Powell in 1862 is also in the general correspondence.

Printed copies of speeches by Douglass are located in the speech file and the newspaper file. A deed executed in 1886 bears the signatures of Douglass and Blanche Kelso Bruce as recorders of deeds. Also included are clippings, postcards, and memorabilia pertaining to his grandson, Joseph H. Douglass, a violinist. The photograph file contains portraits of Joseph H. Douglass and his family and Helen Pitts Douglass.

Addition III spans the years 1880 to 1934. The papers comprise correspondence and programs. The correspondence includes a condolence letter, 1880, to Mrs. John L. Clarke and a letter, 1888, to William Scarborough concerning a call for a “colored political convention.” The programs are for violin recitals of Douglass’s grandson, Joseph H. Douglass.