THE FREDERICK DOUGLASS HOUSE

Cedar Hill,Anacostia Historic District

Washington, D.C.BY:

Deanna Jaroszeski & Delphine KendrickPolk County Florida

Cedar Hill in the 1890s

National Park Service

Cedar Hill The elevation provided Frederick and his family a beautiful view of

Washington, D.C.

Cedar Hill Cedar Hill was Frederick Douglass’

home from 1877- 1895.

Douglass was the first black U.S. Marshall and needed a home of stature.

The house was added on to giving it 14 rooms.

Surrounding acreage was purchased increasing the size of Cedar Hill property to 14 acres.

During that time the house was in a segregated neighborhood and Douglass broke the racist housing laws when he purchased it.

Cedar Hill Floor Plan

National Park Service

The Growlery sits about 75 ft. from the house and provided Frederick a quiet place to put his thoughts in writing.

East Parlor

Dining Room

West Parlor

Wood Stove in Frederick’s Study

Frederick’s favorite chair and typewriter

National Park Service

Hard at Work

National Park Service

The Last DaysAfter being the Marshall of D.C. president appointed Douglass to be the Consul General of the Republic of Haiti.

Frederick never gave up the fight for civil rights. He spoke regularly at public functions.

He continued his writing up until his death

Sadly, Douglass died at the foot of the stairs in his beloved Cedar Hill

Frederick and Helen in front of Cedar Hill

National Park Service

Frederick, Eva and Helen

National Park Service

Helen Pitts Douglass Helen was Frederick’s second wife.

Helen donated Cedar Hill to the Frederick Douglass Memorial and Historical Association.

In 1962 the property was added to the National Park Service System and is still maintained by the government.

Resources

These photos were taken during a NCHE workshop in June of 2009.

Some of our photos unfortunately, were not very clear or the lighting was horrible so we were not able to use them all . You will notice that some of the slides have the National Park Service in the bottom right corner. These photos were obtained from the Fredrick Douglass House website under the National Park Service.

The National Park Service website is a wonderful resource on Douglass’ life and work.