Ball State is hosting an event celebrating the legacy of Frederick Douglass, the social reformer, with a special performance by the Ruth Naomi Floyd Jazz Ensemble. This unique musical experience, titled “Frederick Douglass Jazz Works,” is set to captivate audiences on February 22 sponsored by the Institute for the Study of Political Economy with support from the Center for Economic and Civic Learning.
The event, which will take place at John J. Pruis Hall at 7 p.m., promises an evening of cultural enrichment as attendees are immersed in the timeless words of Frederick Douglass, set to jazz.
This event at Ball State will include students from Muncie Community Schools, Burris, and other local schools. Through this initiative, students will have the opportunity to experience the transformative power of music while learning about the life and contributions of Frederick Douglass.
"We are excited to bring together the Muncie community, including local schools, for an unforgettable evening celebrating the legacy of Frederick Douglass through jazz," said Dr. Nathanael Snow, "This event not only honors Douglass's remarkable achievements but also serves as a meaningful educational experience for students, fostering an appreciation for history, culture, and the arts."
"We believe that music has the power to transcend boundaries and unite communities," added MCS Central High teacher Julie Snider "By engaging with the Muncie community and local schools, we hope to foster a sense of connection and understanding while honoring the enduring legacy of Frederick Douglass."
"We are honored to support this extraordinary exhibition featuring original drafts by Frederick Douglass, courtesy of the Remnant Trust," said Dr. David J. Roof. "This showcase offers a unique opportunity for our community to connect with Douglass's legacy in a tangible and profound way, fostering dialogue, reflection, and deeper understanding."
The Remnant Trust, known for its collection of rare and important works of literature, philosophy, and political thought, have generously loaned these artifacts to Ball State for this special occasion. The exhibition underscores Ball State and the Remnant Trust's commitment to fostering history and intellectual curiosity among our community.
The following works will be on display:
Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom. Part I. - Life as a Slave. Part II. - Life as a Freeman., 1855 | First Edition, with frontispiece. Frederick Douglass' "My Bondage and My Freedom" was published in 1855 and is the second of three autobiographies. "My Bondage" is an expansion of Douglass' first autobiography "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass," published in 1845, where he describes in greater detail his transition from slavery to liberty. The third autobiography, "Life and Times of Frederick Douglass," was published in 1881 and expands upon his life as a slave and his escape from slavery as well as contains experiences during and after the Civil War. While "My Bondage" gave further insight into Douglass' transition from slavery to liberty, it also expressed his views about racism and civil rights both in the South and the North as well as his early involvement in abolition movements. In addition, Douglass refused to reveal any information about his resources in escaping from Baltimore to New York because slavery was still ongoing when Douglass wrote and published the work, and he did not want to endanger those who helped him escape. Douglass used his words, oratory, and pen to fight for liberty and equal rights of African Americans, leaving a lasting legacy and influence.
Frederick Douglass, Harper's Weekly: Journal of Civilization [Article on Frederick Douglass], 1883 | Picture on front cover. American abolitionist, orator, and journalist. The son of a slave and a white father, Douglass escaped to the North in 1838. A speech he delivered at an anti-slavery convention in Nantucket in 1841 made such an impression that he was soon in great demand as a speaker. Mobbed and beaten because of his views, he described his experiences in an outspoken Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. After a two-year stay in Great Britain, where he earned enough money to buy his freedom, he founded The North Star, a newspaper he published for seventeen years, advocating the use of black troops during the Civil War and civil rights for freedmen.
Frederick Douglass, Deed for Property in Washington, 1885 | Deed for Property in Washington, signed in docket on June 26, 1885, by the great anti-slavery leader as Recorder of Deeds.
Frederick Douglass, U. S. Grant and the Colored People, 1872 | Written by Frederick Douglass, "U. S. Grant and the Colored People," was published in Washington, D.C. amidst the election of 1872 between President Ulysses S. Grant and Horace Greeley. The pamphlet was addressed "To the Colored People of the United States," and urged black voters to re-elect President Grant. Subtitled "His wise, just practical, and effective friendship thoroughly vindicated by incontestable facts in his record from 1862-1872," Douglass declared Grant as a friend of the African Americans and defends him by listing the ways in which Grant has helped African Americans. Grant won re-election by receiving 55.6 percent of the votes and the Electoral College votes of 286 to 66.
Frederick Douglass, Equality of all Men before the Law Claimed and Defended, 1865 | First Edition. Published in 1865 in Boston, "Equality of All Men Before the Law Claimed and Defended" contains speeches by Frederick Douglass, William D. Kelley, and Wendell Phillips and letters from Elizur Wright and William Heighton. Douglass's speech, "What the Black Man Wants," was given at the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society in Boston. In the speech, Douglass demands government action for African Americans to secure land, voting rights, and civil equality. Douglass, an American abolitionist and statesman, left a lasting legacy and influence by using his oratory and pen to fight for liberty and equal rights of African Americans.
Abraham Lincoln, Emancipation Proclamation, 1862 | First Public Printing in the "New York Times," September 23, 1862 of the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation entitled "A Proclamation by the President of the United States." The preliminary proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln after the Union's strategic victory at the Battle of Antietam, warning that the slaves in states against the Union would be freed if those states did not end their rebellion by January 1, 1863. After those states refused to rejoin the Union, Lincoln's order went into effect on January 1, 1863 and the final proclamation was issued. The Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves in the ten states still in rebellion but did not apply to the slaves in the slave-holding Union border states of Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware; these slaves were freed by later actions. The proclamation was an important defining moment in the war, in which the nation was committed to fighting a battle to preserve human freedom. Despite the commitment and the Union's victory, the Emancipation Proclamation did not free a single slave. Slavery was not abolished throughout the United States until the Thirteenth Amendment was passed by Congress on January 31, 1865 and ratified by the states on December 6, 1865.
Abraham Lincoln, Emancipation Proclamation, 1864 | A rare 1864 Chicago Broadside printing of the proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, declaring that all slaves in areas still in rebellion against the U.S. was henceforth to be free. The proclamation did not affect slaves in the border states nor in territory under U.S. military occupation. A preliminary proclamation had been issued on September 22, 1862, after the Union success at Antietam had bolstered the likelihood of ultimate victory over the Confederacy. Slavery was not completely abolished until the adoption of the thirteenth amendment to the Constitution in 1865.
Harriet Beecher Stowe, Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp, 1856 | First Edition. "Stowe's second anti-slavery novel complemented 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' by showing the demoralizing influence of slavery on its white perpetrators." "Written partly in response to the criticisms of 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' by both white Southerners and black abolitionists, Stowe's second novel, 'Dred', attempts to explore the issue of slavery from an African American perspective. Through the compelling stories of Nina Gordon, the mistress of a slave plantation, and Dred, a black revolutionary, Stowe brings to life conflicting beliefs about race, the institution of slavery, and the possibilities of violent resistance." "Although it enjoyed better initial sales than her previous, and more famous, novel 'Uncle Tom's Cabin', it was ultimately less popular. Dred was of a more documentary nature than 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' and thus lacked a character like 'Uncle Tom' to evoke strong emotion from readers."
Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly, 1852 | First Edition, in two volumes. A landmark in American literature, "Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly" was written by abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe. It was published in 1852, in Boston and Cleveland, Ohio by John P. Jewett & Company and contains illustrations. "Uncle Tom's Cabin" first appeared as a forty-week serial in the June 5, 1851 issue of "The National Era," an anti-slavery paper, and was later published in 1852 as two volumes. In its first year of publication, it sold 300,000 copies and was translated into all major languages. "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was written in response to the fugitive slaves Stowe met while living in Cincinnati and the newly tightened and constricted Fugitive Slave Laws of 1850. In "Uncle Tom's Cabin," Stowe depicted the reality and horrors of slavery by focusing on an African American slave, Uncle Tom, but also by telling the story of several other characters. Stowe also used religion as an underlying theme by trying to show that Christianity is incompatible with slavery. "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is credited with helping the abolition's cause in the 1850s and contributing to the groundwork of the Civil War.
United States Congress, Internal Revenue Act, 1862 | Written for the US Senate in 1862, Internal Revenue Act was put forth to help fund the American Civil War on July 1, 1862 it was voted on and passed. The Act was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln. The Act was intended "to provide Internal Revenue to support the Government and to pay Interest on the Public Debt."
American Anti-Slavery Society, Anti-Slavery Record, 1836 | Volume II for 1836, containing No. I to No. XII (January to December 1886), with illustrations. "The Anti-Slavery Record" was a series of pamphlets published for the American Anti-Slavery Society by R. G. Williams. The pamphlet was published monthly from 1835 to 1837 in New York. The intention of the "The Anti-Slavery Record" was to share anti-slavery sentiments with its readers and the public. Most of the publications included an illustration on the front page depicting the evils of slavery. The publisher, the American Anti-Slavery Society, was founded by William Lloyd Garrison and Arthur Tappan in 1833. Frederick Douglass was a frequent speaker at American Anti-Slavery Society events and notable members included: Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Theodore Dwight Weld, James Forten, and Lucretia Mott. In 1838, the society had 1,350 local charters and about 250,000 members. Due to differences of approach, the national organization was split in 1839. The Society was formally disbanded in 1870 after the Civil War and Emancipation.
American Anti-Slavery Society, Anti-Slavery Almanac, 1846 | "'The Anti-Slavery Almanac' was intended to instruct, persuade and horrify its readers about the evils of the American slave system and discrimination against people of color." "This almanac contains material on the evils of slavery, the hypocrisy of American's claim to be the champion of liberty and freedom, and political events in Texas and elsewhere. In addition, it contains a very rare essay by William Lloyd Garrison advocating Immediate Emancipation; a Letter from Frederick Douglass to Garrison; an essay by Maria Chapman; and other anti-slavery items."
William Wilberforce, A Letter on the Abolition of the Slave Trade, 1807 | First Edition. "A politician, philanthropist and devoted Christian, Wilberforce spent many years fighting in Parliament for the abolition of the slave trade. 'A Letter...,' originally intended to only be a pamphlet, was a description of the evidence and arguments against the slave trade accumulated by Wilberforce over the course of two decades. Its publication on 31 January 1807 served as the culmination of the final struggle for stopping the trafficking of slaves along with the introduction of the Abolition Bill in the House of Lords. The bill passed the upper house by a large majority and was read in the Commons on 23 February. It passed by 283 votes to 16 and received the royal assent on 25 March. Wilberforce continued to devote the rest of his life to the anti-slavery movement and died in 1833, just three days after Parliament voted to abolish slavery."
Lysander Spooner, The Unconstitutionality of Slavery, 1839 | First Edition. "The Unconstitutionality of Slavery," was written by abolitionist Lysander Spooner and promotes the idea that the United States Constitution forbids slavery. In the document, Spooner demonstrates that the constitutions of slave states do not explicitly sanction slavery, clauses in the United States Constitution contradict slavery, slavery violated natural law, and that the original intent of the members of the Constitutional Convention had no legal bearing on the Constitution itself. Through this, Spooner shows his support for a textual interpretation of the Constitution; meaning that law should be based on the ordinary meaning of the legal text, not based on the intention of the legal document was when it was passed. Also bound with this work is "American Slavery As It Is: Testimony of a Thousand Witnesses," written in 1839 by Theodore Dwight Weld, an important figure in the formative years of the American abolitionist movement. "American Slavery As It Is, "published by the American Anti-Slavery Society, focuses on the challenges that slaves faced in their everyday lives and was very influential at the time; it was used by Harriet Beecher Stowe as inspiration for "Uncle Tom's Cabin."
Media Contact:
Dr. David J. Roof
Director, Center for Economic and Civic Learning
Ball State University
217-721-6741
djroof@bsu.edu
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Remnant Trust is a public educational foundation that shares an actively growing collection of manuscripts, first edition and early works dealing with the topics of individual liberty and human dignity with some pieces dating as early as 2500 B.C. The Remnant Trust makes this collection available to colleges, universities and other organizations for use by students, faculty, scholars and the general public. Those exposed are encouraged to touch, feel and read the originals, including first English translations.
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