Suggested Activities Before the Perfomance

1. Locate Frederick Douglass' birthplace, escape route and homes on the United States map.
   • Talbot, Maryland
   • New York City, New York
   • New Bedford, Massachusetts
   • Rochester, New York
   • Washington, DC
2. Locate Canada, England, Santo Dorningo and Haiti on the world map or globe
3. Discuss the Slave trade with students, pointing out trade routes on a map.
4. Discuss the Civil War, Emancipation, Fifteenth Amendment.
5. Discuss the importance of reading and writing and the educational advancement of Frederick Douglass
6. Acquaint students with information found in this guide.

Suggested Activities After the Performance

1. Ask class members to imagine themselves as Africans taken from Africa to America and sold as slaves. Have them write about their journey in a journal, a letter, a ballad or poem.
2. Students may prepare a bulletin board display of African and African-American arts, science and education projects.
3. Older students may research African American achievements in such fields as art, music, science, politics, sports and literature.
4. Ask students to write and deliver a speech against slavery
5. Ask students to publish their own abolition newspaper

Vocabulary Words and Topics of Discussion

Abolition

African American

Ancestor

Bondage

Culture

Emancipation

Immigrant

Freedom

Generation

Heritage

Master

Plantation

Servitude

Slavery

Related Study Topics

Social Studies

Settlement of various groups of people in the United States

1. Native American Indians
2. European Immigrants
3. African Americans
4. More recent immigration of Asians, Central Americans, Russians...

Geography

Students trace own individual ancestry

Art

Students create displays, flags artifacts, musical instruments and native dress of their ancestry.

Theater

Skits depicting life in country of origin as well as the presentation of music, games, and costumes of each heritage.

Community Projects

International dinner incorporating foods, music, dress, dance and activities indigenous to each culture.

Bibliography

• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave(1845)
• My Bondage & My Freedom(1855).
• Life & Times of Frederick Douglass (1881)
• Blassingame, John W., ed. The Frederick Douglass Papers, Series One: Speeches, Debates, and Interviews. 5 vol. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1979-1992.
• Blassingame, John W. ed. The Frederick Douglass Papers, Series Two: Autobiographical Writings, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1999 and 2001.
• Frederick Douglass, Slected Speeches and Writings; Edited by Philip S. Foner, Abridged and Adapted by Yuval Taylor; Lawrence Hill Books, Chicago Review Press, 1999. (Abridged from The Life and Writibngs of Frederick Douglass, by Philip S. Foner, Five Volumes 1950-1975, New York

  Internet Links

• http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/doughtml/ Library of Congress collection of Frederick Douglass Papers
• http://www.nps.gov/frdo/ Frederick Douglass National Historic Site,1411 W Street, S.E., Washington, DC 20020-4813, (202) 426-5961 The home of Frederick Douglass from 1877 to 1895.
• http://www.ggw.org/freenet/f/fdm/index.html Frederick Douglass Museum and Cultural Center, 25 East Main Street, Suite 500, Rochester, New York 14614-1874 (716) 546-3960
• http://www.nyhistory.com/ugrr/ Underground Railroad in New York State
• http://www.history.rochester.edu/class/douglass/DUGLAS11.TXT The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. Electronic book
• http://www.iupui.edu/~douglass/ Lists and locations of Frederick Douglass papers, resources and books.
• http://www.freedomcenter.org/ National Underground Railroad Freedom Center

   

Programs Description

Frederick Douglass -- one man play by Guy Peartree

Teacher Guide, Links and Resources

George Washington Carver -- one man play by Guy Peartree

Photographs and Press Kit

Resume