iv The National Park Service Division of Publications gratefully The author wishes to express his thanks to the staff of the Selection from The Break of Dawn by Arthur Lee Smith (Molefi K. Asante) "Frederick Douglass" by Robert Hayden from Selected Poems Copyright 1966 by Robert Hayden Reprinted by permission of October House Inc. Introduction An authentic hero of the spirit, Frederick Douglass remains a roadmark figure, pointing the past to the present. One who awakens our country's conscience to the extent that he did is not likely to be forgotten. To recapture the man, however, is not an easy exercise. He played many parts-among them orator, newspaper editor, author, Civil War recruiter, federal office-holder and foreign service minister. After 20 years as a slave, he came to manhood in the turbulent decades immediately preceding the Civil War. Soon entering the battle for human rights, he became an advocate whose interests were broad-he took arms against a sea of troubles, to use the language of one of his favorite authors. His protest techniques were likewise varied, headed by the gift of expression whether in the written or the spoken word. Nothing if not articulate, Douglass will remain his own best interpreter. But to see him against the backdrop of his own day and age, to indicate something of the scope of his activities and to assess his relevance to our times, we need a trustworthy guide. John W. Blassingame is eminently fitted for this vital service. Editor of the Frederick Douglass Papers project, with headquarters at Yale, Blassingame is steeped in the Douglass literature, conversant with the epic quality of his career. Blassingame lays before us a carefully done portrait in brief compass but with all the essential features present and in their proper degree of light and shade. Readers meeting Douglass for the first time could scarcely ask for a more pleasant introduction or experience a greater sense of discovery upon first acquaintance. Blassingame's approach to Douglass is a skillful combination of the topical and the chronological. He addresses himself to the major components of the Douglass career, taking them in their historical order. Blassingame is vi richly informative throughout, as illustrated by the opening and closing sections on the career of the black reformer. To his opening section on Douglass as a slave, Blassingame brings an insight sharpened by his special understanding of the mind and the personality of blacks in bondage. To his closing section, which deals with Douglass as "the Sage of Anacostia," Blassingame draws upon his unusual grasp of black leadership techniques at the turn of the century. In his final paragraphs, the author holds that Douglass is an enduring symbol, a conclusion to which the reader is likely to assent readily, having been furnished the requisite proof. In composition, as in organization and content, this profile will not be found wanting. It is easily read, its style not unlike that of Douglass in clarity and verve. If this work succeeds in capturing Frederick Douglass, embracing something of the scope of his activities and the essence of his spirit, much is owed to Blassingame's own skill in communication. On whatever count, he has done his part. Benjamin Quarles |