Frederick Douglass, Portrait Sculpture
Frederick Douglass (February 1818 – February 20, 1895) — Portrait bust by sculptor Zenos Frudakis. Frederick Douglass was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He became one of the most powerful voices for the abolition of slavery and a leading advocate for women’s suffrage. The sculpture is shown here in clay and will be cast in bronze.
⭐America 250 — Frederick Douglass’ Lasting Impact on American Civil Rights
Born into slavery on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, Frederick Douglass rose to become the most influential African American leader of the 19th century. Originally named Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, he was sent to Baltimore at the age of eight to live with the family of ship carpenter Hugh Auld. There he learned to read and was first introduced to abolitionist ideas—an experience he later described as transformative: “Going to live at Baltimore laid the foundation, and opened the gateway, to all my subsequent prosperity.”
After escaping from slavery in Maryland, Douglass emerged as a national leader in the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts and New York, gaining international renown for his powerful oratory and incisive antislavery writings. He was widely recognized by abolitionists as living proof against enslavers’ claims that enslaved people lacked the intellect or character required for full participation in American civic life. Many Northerners struggled to believe that such an eloquent and learned speaker had once been enslaved.
In 1845, responding to public skepticism, Douglass published his first autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, a landmark work that cemented his status as one of America’s greatest writers and moral leaders. Often called the “Father of the Civil Rights Movement,” Douglass’s legacy continues to shape American ideals of freedom, justice, and equal rights.
Portrait Bust / Work in Progress
Size: Over life size
Media: Clay, to be cast in bronze
Location: Work in progress