HFA to host Second Annual Mass Humanities Reading Frederick Douglass Together Event on Feb. 14

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To commemorate Black History Month and the birthday of social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman Frederick Douglass, the College of Humanities & Fine Arts (HFA) will host Reading Frederick Douglass Together on Feb. 14 at noon in the South College Atrium. Register here.

The event—held on the day Douglass chose to celebrate his birthday—is part of the Mass Humanities Reading Frederick Douglass Together grant program, which invites communities to host free, public readings and discussions of Douglass’s influential address, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” UMass Amherst students, faculty, and staff will gather to read passages from the address out loud and discuss its significance. All are invited to attend. 

This marks the second year HFA has hosted its Reading Frederick Douglass Together event. 

“I am thrilled that we are able to host this event again. Last year's reading had such a breadth of participants – staff, students and faculty – and was a moving experience for so many of us,” says Cara Takakjian, HFA associate dean of diversity, equity, and inclusion; and senior lecturer, undergraduate program director, and chief undergraduate advisor for Italian Studies 

Each year, Mass Humanities partners with the Community Change, Inc. of Boston, the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School, and the Museum of African American History to host a reading on Boston Common. Held near the monument to the 54th Regiment, the event attracts state legislators, students, and members of the public who take turns reading the speech.  

Since 2019, Mass Humanities has also held an annual reading in Northampton, where residents gathered in the park outside the organization’s headquarters.  

To learn more about Mass Humanities, visit masshumanities.org.