Douglass was supported by various communities and family throughout his life. Anna Murray, his wife and mother of his five children, helped him escape slavery in Maryland before they were married in New York at the home of David Ruggles.
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Douglass's Early Life
Douglass was born into slavery in Maryland in 1818 about 65 miles from where this vibrant likeness of him stands today. Though he returned to Maryland for visits he never chose to live in the state once he fled enslavement.
In his first, of three, autobiographies he tells us how he learned to read, mostly by teaching himself. And here, with that first book depicted under his arm, he meets us midstride at the flagship campus of the University of Maryland in College Park.
Douglass as a young man
Douglass escaped to the north but faced recapture in America especially with the release of his first autobiography. It contained names of people and places relating to his, and his family's, enslavement.
He traveled to Ireland and Britain while funds were raised to purchase his freedom. What he experienced in Ireland influenced his broadening human rights advocacy.
