layout brought to you by boonism.com

Frederick Douglass

An educated former slave who became the voice of a repressed people.

Interesting Facts

Douglass learned the alphabet from the wife of his last master, Sophie Auld. Her teachings violated a Maryland law forbidding slaves to learn how to read or write.

In 1845, Frederick Douglass published his autobiography, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass. The book was an instant bestseller, but his friends feared his success would jeopardize his freedom. To avoid capture, Douglass traveled to the United Kingdom to conduct a tour and lecture.

In 1848, Douglass became the only African-American to attend the first women's rights convention at Seneca Falls, New York.

During the Civil War, Douglass served as a consultant to President Abraham Lincoln. He pushed the president to make the war a confrontation against slavery, and advocated that the former slaves be allowed to fight in the Union Army for their freedom.

In 1872, Frederick Douglass was nominated for vice-president by the Equal Rights Party on a ticket headed by presidential candidate Victoria Woodhull.

Home

Frederick Douglass

Rosa Park

She turned a bus ride into a national protest against inequality

Interesting Facts

The Montgomery bus boycott was originally intended to last for only one day. In 1999 a lawsuit was filed against the music group Outkast and it's label LaFace Records for using Rosa Parks' name without her permission for the song "Rosa Parks".

Rosa Parks body was laid in state at the U.S. Capital Rotunda in Washington D.C. after her death. She was the first woman and second African-American ever to receive this honor.

Time magazine voted Rosa Parks as one of the 100 Most Influential people of the 20th Century.

URL

http://www.biography.com/blackhistory/featured-biography/rosa-parks.jsp