All Of It Presents... Full Bio Re-read: Frederick Douglass - a podcast by WNYC

[REBROADCAST FROM FEBRUARY 22, 2021] We present the full conversation from February's installment of our “Full Bio” series with historian David Blight about his book, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom, which won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for History. Blight used new information drawn from private collections to explore the work and life of Douglass. We start with a look at Douglass’s early life as an enslaved person, how he learned to read, and how he escaped to the North from Baltimore in 1838.

[REBROADCAST FROM FEBRUARY 23, 2021] For the second installment of our February “Full Bio” series, Blight describes what made Frederick Douglass such an engaging speaker that he became one of the most powerful voices in 19th century America. Plus, we’ll look at how the prominent abolitionist’s views on slavery evolved in the 1830’s and 1840’s. 

[REBROADCAST FROM FEBRUARY 24, 2021] In the third installment of our February “Full Bio” series, we look at Frederick Douglass’s family and friendships. Blight talks about Douglass’s first wife, Anna, their five children (four of whom lived to adulthood), and his long and turbulent friendship with German feminist and abolitionist Otillie Assing. 

[REBROADCAST FROM FEBRUARY 25, 2021] For the fourth installment of February’s “Full Bio” series, Blight discusses Frederick Douglass’s political work fighting for abolition and suffrage. We look at his allegiance to the Republican Party, including his working relationship with Abraham Lincoln, and why Andrew Johnson was so dismissive of Douglass. 

[REBROADCAST FROM FEBRUARY 26, 2021] We wrap up February’s installment of the "Full Bio" series with a look at the last years of Frederick Douglass’s life, including his experience as minister and consul general to Haiti. Blight describes the reaction to Frederick Douglass’s death in February of 1895 as well as why Douglass’s second marriage to a woman named Helen Pitts became one of the biggest scandals in 19th century America.

Further episodes of All Of It

Further podcasts by WNYC

Website of WNYC