By Margo Lee Perine

Throughout February, communities across our nation celebrate Black History Month by reflecting upon incredible and influential stories of African Americans in society, from slavery to emancipation, and segregation to equal rights. Rochester is not simply a city that observes this heritage and legacy. For nearly a quarter century, Rochester was home to one of the most formidable and renowned faces of the abolitionist and human rights movement, Frederick Douglass.

Our city also served as an integral link in the gateway to freedom by serving a conduit for the works of Harriet Tubman and abolitionists on the Underground Railroad, whereby thousands of enslaved people found their way to freedom in Canada. Our community is rich with diversity. As you teach your child about Black History, you may be proud to know you live in a city that was pivotal in the advancement of Black Americans, and is rich with historic places that offer hands-on learning for the entire family.

Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass was a renowned abolitionist, orator, author and statesman. Born Frederick Baily in 1818 in Maryland, he would spend his early years steeped in the life of slavery, but blessed with a passion to learn to read and write. As an adolescent, he was voraciously reading and writing, skills shunned by slave-owners as they were seen as tools of empowerment. Little did they know how truly powerful this young man's passions were. A strapping tall figure and wily hair, mixed with his eloquent and elaborate orating skills place Douglass among the most prominent advocates for human rights in U.S. history. His resolution to become a free man, to free others, and to provide for equal rights, including the rights for blacks to vote were all realized during his life. Douglass made his way to the free state of New York in 1838,
Douglass would write to a friend, "I felt as one might feel upon escape from a den of hungry lions. A new world had opened upon me. Anguish and grief, like darkness and rain, may be depicted, but gladness and joy, like the rainbow, defy the skill of pen or pencil."
Though he was not yet legally a free black man, he had found the safe haven of life in New York City, and then in Europe. It would be thanks to the monies of friends there that would eventually buy his freedom in 1846 at the age of 28 and bring his return to the U.S.

Calling Rochester "Home"
Douglass made Rochester his home base for nearly a quarter century. He moved here in 1847. Here he published The North Star, a continuum of his work to promote freedom for all slaves. At first, it was not well received by some residents because they did not want their city tied to a black publication. Some even threatened to toss his printing press into Lake Ontario. But over time, Douglass became an accepted and esteemed member of the community. Although he traveled extensively on the speaking circuit to advocate for blacks and civil rights, he once said that Rochester was the one place where he felt at home. He was fortunate to live in a city that included activists for equal rights on other fronts--notably, suffragist Susan B. Anthony, whom he advocated for on many occasions, including attending women's rights conventions in the mid 1800's. It was during this period that Douglass also became very involved in another crucial Rochester link to black freedom-the Underground Railroad.

"Moses" and the Underground Railroad
Imagine the fear of death upon capture as you debate whether to flee the binds of slavery and embark on a long journey that will bring you freedom only dreamed of by thousands in slave states of the 1800's. Those dreams were made a reality for hundreds by Harriet Tubman, "Moses" to most, and those who worked the Underground Railroad.
Born Harriet Ross, Harriet Tubman was born into Maryland slavery in about 1820. She, like Douglass, endured the agonies of a slave's life, including harsh work, and beatings. When she was 25, she married a free black man, John Tubman. Five years later, she embarked on a journey that would take her to Ontario, Canada, where she was a free woman. This was the first of many journeys Tubman would make.
Having escaped slavery herself, Tubman returned first to free her family in Maryland. She continued that work by directing people toward the North Star and freedom in Canada. On one route, you would travel through Wilmington, Deleware, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and through a grueling trek of nearly 250 miles across the Appalachian Mountains to Rochester. Here you would likely travel by boat, silently, in the dark of night along the Genesee River in hopes of securing safe passage on a ship bound for Canada. Freedom was now a relatively small body of water away. If you were lucky, you may have chanced upon activist Susan B. Anthony, who was said to have given many travelers additional clothing to endure the harsh winter weather.
During the Civil War, Harriet Tubman moved her family from Canada to Auburn, New York. This was where she would operate much of her work, but traveled extensively as she served as a soldier, nurse, and spy. She worked closely with many abolitionists, including Frederick Douglass. After the war, Tubman made women's rights a focal point in Auburn, and continued to press for equal rights.
Emancipation for blacks would come with the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1865, followed by the 14th Amendment in 1868, which gave blacks the rights to American citizenship, and the 15th Amendment in 1870, which guaranteed blacks the right to vote.
"Rochester holds special signifigance for African American history," notes Leatrice Kemp, Librarian and Archivist at the Rochester Museum & Science Center, which has a permanent Frederick Douglass exhibit on display. (See box above).
"Frederick Douglass came here because there was strong support of abolition and because this city had an active African American community," adds Kemp.
"We need to tell the stories of, and honor the many citizens, both black and white, who put themselves in danger to provide a safe haven for those who traveled this terminal of the Underground Railroad."

A Place in History
Douglass's home was destroyed by fire in 1872, whereupon he moved to Washington, D.C., in hopes of residing closer to the center of political activity. Upon his death in 1895, he was buried in Mt. Hope Cemetery in Rochester, alongside his first wife, Anna Douglass with whom they had five children. Seasonal guided tours including stops at the Douglass family site are hosted by the friends of Mt. Hope Cemetery. A statue in his honor also stands in Highland Park.Tubman is buried at Fort Hill Cemetery in Auburn. The first home of Tubman and her husband, Nelson Davis still stands today, though other dwellings on the land were later demolished, and others rebuilt. The Harriet Tubman Museum opened this month on the site.