By D. Kevin McNeir
Special to the AFRO
While the exact date of his birth remains a mystery, Frederick Douglass, who was born into slavery in or around 1818, in Talbot County, Md., said in his autobiography that he settled on celebrating Feb. 14 as his birthday, remembering that his mother called him her “Little Valentine.”
Then, following his successful escape from slavery in 1838, and in an act of self-determination and safety, he renamed himself, from Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey to Frederick Douglass.
Historians now regard Douglass, a self-taught man who would become a social reformer, orator, writer, statesman and an abolitionist, as the most important leader in the struggle for Black civil rights in the 19th century.
Here in Washington, D.C., where he spent the last years of his life, almost two decades in total, he has emerged as a man worthy of reverence and admiration, particularly among African Americans.
Recent activities held during Douglass’s birthday month, led by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, the National Capital Parks – East (NACE) and the U.S. House of Representatives, attest to his ongoing significance in the lives of Washingtonians and the history of the District.
DC breaks ground on new Douglass Community Center in Ward 8
Photo courtesy of the Mayor’s Office)
On Thursday, Feb. 19, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser joined Delano Hunter, director of the Department of General Services; Thennie Freeman, director of the Department of Parks and Recreation; Cheryl Moore, ANC 8C05 commissioner; Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White and other community members to break ground on the new Douglass Community Center in Ward 8.
Bowser said the new facility honors Frederick Douglass’s legacy and marks the latest milestone in an 11-year commitment to deliver modern, world-class recreation facilities in all eight wards.
“We are in the great Ward 8, honoring our history and celebrating our future,” Bowser said. “Today, we’re breaking ground on a new community center. In less than two weeks, we’ll be back to cut the ribbon at the new Anacostia Recreation Center at Ketcham. We have several more ribbons to cut this summer in Ward 8. So, one way we’re running through the tape in 2026 is by ensuring Ward 8 residents have safe, modern spaces to gather, stay active and thrive.”
The modernized community center joins other transformational projects that honor Douglass’s legacy. In 2021, the District opened the new Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge, a $440 million infrastructure project that replaced the original bridge. And in 2025, the District also delivered Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center GW Health in Ward 8, the first new full-service hospital to open in DC in more than 25 years, fulfilling a commitment to ensure residents have access to high-quality hospital care close to home.
Douglass’s residence, Cedar Hill, located in Anacostia, where he lived from 1877 until his death in 1895, is now preserved as the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site and stands as a symbol of Ward 8’s enduring connection to his legacy.
But for Moore, the groundbreaking struck a personal chord.
“Today’s ceremony represents years of listening, planning, and prayer, and I want to thank our mayor for her continued investment in Ward 8,” Moore said. “I only wish that my mother, Elaine Carter, were here today to see what we have accomplished. She was a pillar in this community who dedicated her life in service to everyone around her.”
NACE marks Douglass’s 208th birthday anniversary in style
On Feb. 14, NACE continued a tradition that dates back more than 50 years as a youth dominated group of about 140 people gathered at the Capital Turnaround in Southeast DC to celebrate Douglass’s 208th birthday.
The event featured the Jubilee Voices of the Washington Revels who sang slave songs, spirituals, and hymns; performances by student winners of the Frederick Douglass Oratorical Contest; keynote remarks by Jeffrey Rosen, author of “The Pursuit of Happiness” and president and CEO of the Constitution Center; and Black History Month Jeopardy with audience participation
According to John T. Fowler II, Supervisory Park Ranger at Historic Homes, NACE, and a native Washingtonian, Douglass remains someone who all Americans can look up to and stands as a role model for all Black Americans.
“We manage the home of Douglass, Cedar Hill, and took control in 1962 and then embarked on a renovation that took 10 years before we opened it to the public,” Fowler said. “That’s when we began to actively celebrate his birthday. The children especially enjoyed the Jubilee Singers who were dressed in clothing from the 19th century. But the best part of the event was three students who memorized and performed some of Douglass’s most memorable speeches. (See www.nps.gov/frdo for the winners).
“NACE also manages the home of Carter G. Woodson and the Mary McCleod Bethune historic site, and they were both just 20 years old at the time of Douglass’s death,” Fowler continued. “Then, and now, he served as a model of excellence for young Blacks – a model of what African Americans could become.”
In an example of bipartisan support in the US House of Representatives, “The Lion of Anacostia,” the nickname to which Douglass is commonly referred as the king of his household, neighborhood and the city in which he died, was honored with the renaming of the press gallery, which overlooks the U.S. House chamber.
The renaming, spearheaded by Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), was conceived over the last year after the congressman said he brainstormed with his staff on ways to commemorate the history of prominent Americans, including Black Americans, across the Capitol.
He noted that Douglass not only wrote about congressional proceedings from the chamber but helped to galvanize support among lawmakers and the public for the abolition of slavery through his speeches and letters to President Abraham Lincoln.
“When we talk about Frederick Douglass, we are talking about a man who possessed a profound and unshakable faith in Americans, in America’s family,” said Donalds.
Fowler spoke to Douglass’ audacity to seek a better life even while being oppressed.
“Douglass grew up under the lash of slavery, but escaped,” said Fowler. “With a thirst for knowledge, he sought to improve himself and never let the circumstances in which he was born dictate the trajectory of his life.”
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