Frederick Douglass Day 2022

CAS Co-Chair Carmen McGill (left) and Treasurer Kalimah Karim (right)

On August 2nd, 1858 the internationally known abolitionist Frederick Douglass, himself formerly enslaved, delivered a speech about U.S. politics to an audience of several thousand at Poughkeepsie’s College Hill Park. The address recognized Emancipation Day, the date Great Britain abolished slavery—August 1, 1834—but at the time, millions of Black people were still enslaved in the U.S. Frederick Douglass's 1858 speech in College Hill Park was a major historical event in Poughkeepsie, NY that contributed to the fight for the abolition of slavery. CAS chose to commemorate this day on August 1st, 2021 in its original location.

Every year we hold Frederick Douglass Day at College Hill Park, filled with performances, readings of his words, and community.