DOUGLASS SPEECH

Inscription

DOUGLASS SPEECH
ON AUG. 2, 1858, FREDERICK
DOUGLASS SPOKE HERE TO CROWD
OF 3,000, CELEBRATING 1834 END
OF BRITISH WEST INDIAN SLAVERY
& CALLING FOR U.S. ABOLITION.
ARLINGTON HIGH SCHOOL
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2026

On August 2, 1858, Frederick Douglass delivered a speech in Poughkeepsie, New York, commemorating the 24th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the British West Indies. Held at College Hill Park, the event drew over 3,000 attendees, including delegations from neighboring counties who arrived via steamship.

The local African American community organized a comprehensive celebration that included a 24-gun salute, a brass band, and a procession through Poughkeepsie that concluded at a specially constructed stage in the park, where refreshment booths were available. The speaking program began around 1:00 p.m. Opening speakers praised the British Parliament for emancipating 800,000 enslaved people, contrasted this action with the ongoing enslavement of 4 million people in the United States, and noted that the U.S. slave population at the time equaled the total number of American colonists during the Revolutionary War.

Just before Douglass spoke, the stage constructed for the event fell apart, and a wagon was substituted. As the featured speaker, Douglass delivered an address lasting two hours. Along with recounting and defending the history of emancipation in the West Indies, he called for the emancipation of slaves in America using both logical and moral arguments. Douglass’ son was reportedly in the audience selling copies of his father’s autobiography. The celebration continued into the evening at the Universalist Church, where Douglass and others provided additional remarks before the event concluded at 10:00 p.m. The speech was widely hailed as an intellectual achievement by Douglass’ abolitionist peers.

The student-led application for this grant came from students at Arlington High School, led by instructor Robert McHugh. The students researched Frederick Douglass’ speech, then gathered and submitted the required materials for the historical marker as part of our Pomeroy Education Program.