The Arkansas Tech University Department of History and Political Science and the ATU History Club will host a Douglass Day 2025 event on Friday, Feb. 14.
It will take place from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. in room 128 of Witherspoon Hall, 407 West Q Street in Russellville. Admission will be free and open to the public. Participants are encouraged to bring their laptops if possible.
The focal point of the gathering will be a transcribe-a-thon featuring the African American Perspectives Collection from the Library of Congress.
Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in February 1818 in Maryland. After escaping in 1838 and seeking freedom in Massachusetts, he became a noted abolitionist, orator and author. He advocated for emancipation and the subsequent guarantee of equal rights and protections as American citizens for the formerly enslaved.
His work contributed to the creation and ratification of the 13th Amendment (abolished slavery), the 14th Amendment (national birthright citizenship) and the 15th Amendment (equal voting rights regardless of race, skin color or previous servitude) to the U.S. Constitution.
After serving in a variety of appointments under five U.S. presidents during the post-Reconstruction era, Douglass died on Feb. 20, 1895, at the age of 77.
Learn more about the ATU Department of History and Political Science at www.atu.edu/history.
