Along with Valentine's Day, remember Frederick Douglass on February 14th.
Douglass was an author, publisher, writer, orator, and a great abolitionist.
Douglass was born a slave and didn't know his exact birthdate. His mother used to call him her "Valentine", so he chose February 14th as his birthday. Auld, one of his former enslavers said that he was born in February 1818, but Auld's former wife Lucretia said it was 1817.
In 1980, an historian, Dickson Preston published a birth ledger from the Maryland Archives from Douglass' first enslaver, Aaron Anthony. The birth ledger says "Frederick Augustus, son of Harriott, Feby 1818".
The Bethel Literary Society in Washington, D.C. decided to honor his birthday on February 28, 1888.
Douglass died February 20, 1895.
Children in African American schools started to celebrate his birthday as Douglass Day. By 1901, there were celebrations for his birthday in Chicago and other cities.
Sources:
The story behind the Frederick Douglass birthday celebration | Constitution Center
FREDERICK DOUGLASS DAY - February 14, 2026 - National Today
On Friday, February 13, 2026, 12 to 3 PM, join an online celebration of Douglass Day at this web address: www.douglassday.org
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Check out these titles on Frederick Douglass:
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave
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Written by Aaron Brown, Librarian II at the Central Library.
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