FREDERICK DOUGLASS INTERVIEW PT 4

FREDERICK DOUGLASS 1818-1895; ABOLITIONIST, ORATOR AND STATESMAN.

Born into slavery in February of 1818 on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, his future was as bleak as any slave before him and he suffered great pain and indignity.

QUESTION: Why Didn't Slaves Fight Back At Their Owners?

Mr. Douglass' answer: At this distance of time, it may seem odd that the slave did not try to fight back. The truth of the matter is that there were many slaves who did not fight back. Many of them were killed; many of them were banished into the south-into the deep south-those states of Florida, Louisana, Mississippi. But perhaps the main reason slaves did not fight back at their owners was because they felt that it was futile to do so. The slave-owners had guns, not only the whips. So out of a sense of fear slaves sometimes found other ways to fight back at their owners than just rebelling. Many times slaves would adopt a kind of "slow-down." They would act as if they didn't understand what directions they were being given by the overseers; they would act "stupid;" they would act "dumb;" they would act as if they couldn't understand what the owner or the slave overseer was trying to make them understand. The reason for that, it is my belief, is that slaves instinctively understood that the most important thing as a slave was to stay alive. I recall my Grandpappy Isaac telling me that if a slave was dead, he could not do anything, but that every day a slave was alive was another day that a slave might find some way in which he could escape from slavery."

ASK FREDERICK DOUGLASS A QUESTION!

To honor his legacy, a life-like animation, set in an exact replica of Douglass' study in his Anacostia home was created for THEARC and is available to the community. Interactive performances are also possible where the animation will answer questions from the audience! More than two hours of Douglass' famous speeches are recorded in varying lengths, complexity and programmed with coordinated body movements. The end result is dramatic and awe inspiring!


During Black History month Mr. Douglass’ answers to the pre programmed questions will be posted in THEARC blog.

For more information please email info@thearcdc.org or call 202-4-THEARC or 202-484-3272.



Selected for the 2008-2009 Catalogue for Philanthropy
“One of the best small charities in the greater Washington region”

AN INTERVIEW WITH FREDERICK DOUGLASS PT2

FREDERICK DOUGLASS 1818-1895 ORATOR..ABOLITIONIST..STATESMAN

Born into slavery in February of 1818 on the Eastern

shore of Maryland, his future was as bleak as any

slave before him, and he suffered great pain and indignity. But Frederick Douglass found a way out, and he led the way for others. As a child he learned to read and discovered the power of the written and spoken word. As a young adult, after escaping slavery, he used that power to fight for justice and equal opportunity.

QUESTION: How did you eventually escape from slavery? Did you devise a plan or scheme or did you just one day decide to go?

Mr. Douglass' reply: "I escaped from slavery on the 3rd of September of 1838, from the city of Baltimore. And I could not have done it without the very very strong support and guidance of Miss Anna Murray, who shortly after my escape agreed to become my wife. On the 14th of September of that same year (1838) we were married. So, it was not just one day I decided to go; we planned for several weeks. And in fact I might say that I had been planning an escape from slavery or at least I had the desire to escape from slavery from the moment I realized that I was a slave."

ASK FREDERICK DOUGLASS A QUESTION!

To honor his legacy, a life-like animation, set in an exact replica of Douglass' study in his Anacostia home was created for THEARC and is available to the community. Interactive performances are also possible where the animation will answer questions from the audience! More than two hours of Douglass' famous speeches are recorded in varying lengths and complexity and programmed with coordinated body movements. The end result is dramatic and awe inspiring!


Come see Frederick Douglass answer your questions this week at THEARC for Black History Month! Performances are Tuesday and Wednesday and are open to the public.

For more information please email info@thearcdc.org or call 202-4-THEARC or 202-484-3272.

WHY IS THEARC NEEDED?

Shockingly, the U.S. Census Bureau 2005 American Community Survey shows that our nation’s capital has the highest rate of childhood poverty of any jurisdiction in the United States. Three out of ten children in Washington, DC live at or below the poverty line—.

WHAT IS THEARC?

Ten non profit partners at THEARC have come together under one roof to help children.
Since its opening in 2005, Town Hall Education, Arts and Recreation Campus-THEARC- has become a national prototype combining social, cultural and health services. It is a $27 million 110,000 square foot center on 16.5 acres of land in Southeast Washington, DC. THEARC provides a daily safe haven for the children it serves, with a wide range of arts, educational, recreational, health programs and services. In addition there is a 365-seat theatre (the only theatre east of the Anacostia River) a regulation size gymnasium, computer lab, art gallery, state-of-the-art music and dance studios.

Will you contribute to help each charity fulfill their missions? Just click on the donate button! For more information about THEARC please go to our website http://www.thearcdc.org or you may call 1-202-4-THEARC (1-202-484-3272).

Selected for the 2008-2009 Catalogue for Philanthropy
“One of the best small charities in the greater Washington region”

AN INTERVIEW WITH FREDERICK DOUGLASS PT1

Frederick Douglass 1818-1895

Born into slavery in February of 1818 on the Eastern
Shore of Maryland, his future was as bleak as any slave
before him, and he suffered great pain and indignity.
As a young adult, after escaping slavery, he used that
power to fight for justice and equal opportunity.

QUESTION: How were you caught when you first tried to escape from slavery?


Mr. Douglass' reply: "The first attempt that I had made to escape occured during my second year of living on the farm of Mr. William Freeland. I was going to escape with four of my friends on that plantation but we were betrayed. There was a fifth person who was joining us by the name of Sandy Jenkins. I'm not sure - in fact, none of us would be willing to admit at all - that we thought that Sandy, as close a friend and brother as he was to us, that he would have betrayed us. But, I believe that if he did not, then the truth is, perhaps our behavior - we seemed at times to be a little too joyous, a little too happy - that our behavior was just a little different from what it had normally been. And of course slave masters and slave owners were very very very watchful. And anytime they saw behavior that they thought was at all different it aroused their suspicions. So I would be willing to say that perhaps we created a certain amount of suspicion within the mind of Mr. William Freeland. And also there was the possibility that someone, hopefully not, but perhaps it was Sandy Jenkins did in fact betray us."


YOU CAN ASK FREDERICK DOUGLASS A QUESTION!

To honor his legacy, a life-like animation, set in an exact replica of Douglass' study in his Anacostia home was created for THEARC and is available to the community. Interactive performances are also possible where the animation will answer questions from the audience! More than two hours of Douglass' famous speeches are recorded in varying lengths and complexity and programmed with coordinated body movements. The end result is dramatic and awe inspiring!



“One of the best small charities in the greater Washington region”

MEET FREDERICK DOUGLASS!

Frederick Douglass, the internationally acclaimed abolitionist, orator and
statesman who made his home in Washington, DC's Ward 8 for almost two

decades, will be the center piece of this year's Black History Month

celebrations on February 3-5 at Southeast Washington's Town Hall Education Arts & Recreation Campus (THEARC), 1901 Mississippi Ave.,

SE, Washington, DC.

ASK FREDERICK DOUGLASS A QUESTION!

"Living History with Frederick Douglass" features a life-like, 6-foot-tall

animatron of one of the most prominent figures in African-American and

United States history set in an exact replica of Douglass' study in his Anacostia home ("Cedar Hill"). With coordinated body movements and gestures Douglass is programmed to answer more than 55 questions from

audiences and can recite more than two hours of excerpts from his famous speeches were recored in varying lengths.

"The animatron offers an interactive, educational and cultural experience that helps preserve the legacy of Frederick Douglass and his impact on the United States and here in southeast DC,"

said Edmund Fleet, executive director of THEARC. "We are proud to share it with our neighbors year-round but particularly during Black History Month."

COME JOIN US AND SEE HISTORY COME TO LIFE!

All programs will take place in THEARC Theatre. The events are open to the public. For additional information please email info@thearcdc.org or call 202-4-THEARC or 202-484-3282.

Selected for the 2008-2009 Catalogue for Philanthropy
“One of the best small charities in the greater Washington region”