Reading Frederick Douglass Together brings people together to read aloud Frederick Douglass’s speech, What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? Copies of Douglass’ speech will be distributed to all in attendance. The public can take turns reading passages from it in succession.  People may simply attend, attend and read, or watch from home, thanks to Northampton Open Media. 

The speech was first delivered in 1852, in Corinthian Hall, Rochester, New York to the Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society. The themes addressed in the speech still resonate with Americans more than 150 years after they were written.  Now more than ever, the speech forces us to reckon with the legacy of slavery and the promises of democracy.
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Frederick Douglass had strong ties to the Northampton Association of Education and Industry in Florence and spoke in downtown Northampton in the 1840s about slavery and the abolitionist movement.

Reading Frederick Douglass Together is a statewide initiative coordinated by Mass Humanities.  Now in its 12th year, the program will take place in 20 communities across Massachusetts.  The Northampton event is presented in partnership with State Representative Lindsay Sabadosa, Mass Humanities, Historic Northampton, Forbes Library, the David Ruggles Center, the Northampton Human Rights Commission, Healthy Hampshire, Pioneer Valley Workers Center, the League of Women Voters, the Sojourner Truth Memorial Committee and the Sojourner Truth School for Social Change Leadership.