HFA Celebrates Black History Month with Powerful Reading of Frederick Douglass's Influential Address

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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) recently hosted Reading Frederick Douglass Together.

The event—held on Feb. 14, the day Douglass chose to celebrate his birthday—was 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 gathered to read passages from the address out loud and discuss its significance.

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

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.