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Monday, September 17, 1838:
Frederick Douglass arrives in and quickly departs from Newport, Rhode Island.
Wednesday, September 8, 1841:
(Date Under Review)
Frederick Douglass, traveling by train from Newburyport, Massachusetts to Providence, Rhode Island, was beaten by railroad workers who dragged him to a car reserved for African Americans.
Thursday, November 11 –
Saturday November 13, 1841:
Douglass lectures on slavery under the auspices of the Rhode Island Anti-Slavery Society at Franklin Hall in Providence.
Friday, November 19 –
Saturday November 20, 1841:
Douglass lectures at the Dorrite “People’s Convention” in Providence.
Thursday, December 2 –
Friday December 3, 1841:
Woonsocket, Regional Anti-Slavery Convention to protest the Dorr Constitution, (current site of 99 South Main Street).
Tuesday, December 7, 1841:
North Scituate, Free Will Baptist Church, Regional Anti-Slavery Convention to protest the Dorr Constitution.
Tuesday, December 14, 1841:
Fiskeville & Phenix, Regional Anti-Slavery Convention to protest the Dorr Constitution.
Wednesday, December 15, 1841:
East Greenwich, Regional Anti-Slavery Convention to protest the Dorr Constitution.
Tuesday, December 21 –Wednesday, December 22, 1841:
Kingston, Regional Anti-Slavery Convention to protest the Dorr Constitution.
Friday, December 24 – Saturday, December 25, 1841:
Newport, Regional Anti-Slavery Convention to protest the Dorr Constitution.
Sunday, December 27 – Monday, December 28, 1841:
Providence, Regional Anti-Slavery Convention to protest the Dorr Constitution.
1842:
(Exact Date Yet to be Determined)
Douglass attempts to speak in Newport during the Dorr Rebellion crisis, but is turned away by anti-abolitionist rioters.
Sunday, November 6–18, 1842:
Annual Meeting, RI Anti-Slavery Society, Providence Town Hall. Following the November 8th meeting, Douglass wrote his first public letter, defending fugitive slave George Latimer.
December, 1842:
(Exact Date Yet to be Determined)
Douglass lectures in Rhode Island.
Sunday, February 19, 1843:
The first in a series of evening lectures on slavery under the auspices of the Rhode Island Anti-Slavery Society opens at Franklin Hall in Providence. More than 500 people are recorded to be in attendance.
Sunday, February 26, 1843:
Douglass lectures on slavery for a second time under the auspices of the Rhode Island Anti-Slavery Society at Westminster Hall in Providence. Douglass said of the event; “It was crowded with a highly respectable and intelligent audience.”
Sunday, March 5, 1843:
"Hundreds were turned away for want of room" at Douglass' third lecture on slavery under the auspices of the Rhode Island Anti-Slavery Society at Franklin Hall in Providence.
Saturday, March 18, 1843:
Douglass attends executive committee meeting of the RI Anti-Slavery Society, Providence.
Sunday, March 19, 1843:
Douglass lectures on slavery under the auspices of the Rhode Island Anti-Slavery Society at Franklin Hall in Providence. Tickets sold for crowd control.
Sunday, March 26, 1843:
Douglass lectures on: "Colonization and its connection with slavery, and the degradation of the colored people of the United States" under the auspices of the Rhode Island Anti-Slavery Society in Providence. It was noted that selling tickets to this event was unsuccessful, so seating was once again free.
Sunday, April 2, 1843:
Douglass' final lecture under the auspices of the Rhode Island Anti-Slavery Society is held Providence, and entitled: "The Progress of the Cause."
Wednesday, April 12, 1843:
In East Greenwich, Abolitionists quickly mobilize to defeat the whites-only People’s Constitution. Later, the Rhode Island Anti-Slavery Society hold a convention in November to organize their resistance. The American Anti-Slavery Society appoint Frederick Douglass to oversee a set of conventions held in Newport, Woonsocket, North Scituate, Fiskville and Phenix, Kingston, and Providence. Throughout the state, the events are met with vicious protests. In Newport, threats of violence begin when the local convention is announced. Mobs shut down the first two days of the convention, and follow abolitionists to their homes. On the third day, mobs again close the convention and the abolitionists are forced to retreat.
Wednesday, April 12 – Thursday, April 13, 1843:
Douglass lectures in East Greenwich before the RI Anti-Slavery Society.
Sunday, December 17, 1843:
Douglass speaks to the Little Compton Female Anti-Slavery Society at Little Compton's 3rd Methodist Church on the Common. He spends the night at the home of Benjamin Franklin and Abby Maria Wilbour on West Main Road.
Friday, March 29 –
Sunday, March 31, 1844:
Douglass Lectures in Pawtucket with Stephen S. Foster and Charles C. Burleigh.
Thursday, August 1, 1844:
Douglass speaks to the Little Compton Female Anti-Slavery Society at Little Compton's 3rd Methodist Church on the Common. He spends the night at the home of Benjamin Franklin and Abby Maria Wilbour on West Main Road.
Wednesday, November 20 – Saturday, November 23, 1844:
Douglass lectures at Mechanics’ Hall in Providence before the RI Anti-Slavery annual meeting.
1845:
(Exact Date Yet to be Determined)
Appears with Soujourner Truth (her first documented anti-slavery speech) at the RI Anti-Slavery Society in Providence.
Friday, February 18, 1848:
George Clarke of Providence writes to Douglass extolling a new Rhode Island law prohibiting state officials from capturing fugitive slaves. Read the letter here: https://frederickdouglasspapersproject.com/item/5903
December, 1851:
(Exact Date Yet to be Determined)
While very ill, Douglass delivers an unusual lecture in Providence that bared his spiritual soul, saying “I have been for the past year under a cloud… [I have] destroyed in myself that very reverence for God and for religion.”
1858–1863:
(Exact Date Yet to be Determined)
Sometime during this period, Douglass speaks at the African American Union Congregational Church at 49 Division Street in Newport.
Saturday, December 22, 1860:
Douglass pens a letter to African American Mary Ann C. Rice Remington of Newport, whose husband, Henry O Remington, had just died the previous month.
Saturday, November 30, 1861:
Douglass appears at Armory Hall, at the Young Men’s Christian Association in Westerly.
Monday, December 7, 1868:
Douglass delivered a lecture hosted by the Young Men’s Christian Association at the Westerly Armory titled “William, the Silent.”
According to a copy of the lecture maintained by the Library of Congress, Douglass spoke that night about William I, Prince of Orange. One story tells that Charles Perry shielded Douglass from a man who opposed abolition and hurled eggs and water at Douglass. Douglass spent the night in Perry's home on Margin Street.
Friday, December 11, 1868:
Douglass delivers his "Women and Negroes Must Work Together" speech in Providence at the Rhode Island Woman’s Suffrage Convention. See the speech here: Women and Negroes Must Work Together: A Speech Delivered in Providence, Rhode Island on December 11, 1868 · Digital Edition · Frederick Douglass Papers Project
Tuesday, December 29, 1868:
Douglass appears in Woonsocket.
1873:
(Exact Date Yet to be Determined)
Following his speech in Westerly, Douglass stays at the home of abolitionist Charles Perry, now the Margin Street Inn at 4 Margin Street.
Friday, December 5, 1873:
Douglass appears at the Newport Opera House, at an event sponsored by the Union Congregational Church.
Thursday, November 6, 1879:
Douglass is a distinguished guest along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton at the Rhode Island Woman (sic) Suffrage Association Annual Meeting in Providence.
1881:
(Exact Date Yet to be Determined)
Douglass is photographed by Alexander Clark Brownell in his studio at 90 Westminster Street in Providence.
Friday, March 10, 1882:
Artist Sarah James Eddy writes to Douglass proposing an April date for him to sit for a portrait.
April, 1882:
(Exact Date Yet to be Determined)
Douglass sits for a portrait by Sarah Eddy at the home of her father in Providence.
Monday, May 1, 1882:
Sarah James Eddy sends preliminary sketch of the portrait to Douglass.
Monday, June 25, 1883:
Sarah James Eddy completes and signs the the full-length painting of Douglass.
Wednesday, February 6 – Thursday, February 7, 1884:
Douglass visits the home of the Buffum Chace's, abolitionists in Valley Falls, RI following Wendell Phillips' funeral.
Wednesday, December 3 – Thursday December 4, 1884:
Douglass attends the Women's Suffrage meeting at the (Old) State House in Providence. He delivers his "The Greatest Revolution the World Has Yet Seen" speech. The attendance was so large that there was an overflow meeting and Douglass spoke at both. See speech here: The Greatest Revolution the World Has Yet Seen: An Address Delivered in Providence, Rhode Island, on December 3, 1884 · Digital Edition · Frederick Douglass Papers Project
1889:
(Exact Date Yet to be Determined)
A sculpture of Douglass by artist Stanley W. Edwards is cast by Smith Granite Company in Westerly, placed on a pedestal of Westerly Blue Granite and erected in Rochester, NY.
Circa 1895:
(Exact Date Yet to be Determined)
William H. Purdy and Leonard C. Peters, both Black men of Providence, RI, design and patent the Frederick Douglass spoon.
https://myauctionfinds.com/2015/10/30/reader-seeks-pedigree-of-frederick-douglass-souvenir-spoon/
More reading on
Frederick Douglass' Travels:
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