The Springfield Museums are participating in a communal reading of Frederick Douglass’s fiery 1852 speech, “The Meaning of the Fourth of July to the Negro.” The shared reading will take place at noon on June 29 in Court Square in Springfield and will be followed by a discussion at First Church.

On July 5, 1852, Douglass, a former slave and leading abolitionist, addressed the “race question” at an event in Rochester, NY, commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence. “Fellow-citizens,” he began, “why am I called upon to speak here to-day? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day? What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July?”

The full text of the speech is available online at the Mass Humanities website, www.masshumanities.org.  

State Representative Ben Swan will portray Frederick Douglass at the event, and community members from all walks of life, including some children, will read portions of the speech. Anyone who would like to participate by reading a brief paragraph or just listening to the speech is encouraged to come.

The program is intended to take up the challenge leveled by Barack Obama at Constitution Hall in Philadelphia: “Race is an issue this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. To work for ‘a more perfect union’ we need to start to understand complexities that we’ve never really worked through. [This] requires a reminder of how we arrived at this point.”

The event is part of a state-wide series of readings which is partially funded by a We the People grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Among the local collaborating organizations are MassHumanities, City of Springfield, Springfield Museums, Springfield City Library, Teaching American History Program of the Springfield Public Schools, Drama Studio, Community Music School, and Teatro Vida.

For additional information, please call Wendy Somes at the Springfield Museums, 413.263.6800, ext. 323.