Events planned for June and July.
Since 2009, Mass Humanities has supported public readings of Frederick Douglass’s influential address, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” around the Commonwealth. This year, more than 20 Massachusetts communities will host events that bring neighbors together to read the speech and discuss its ongoing relevance.
The Reading Frederick Douglass Together events this summer are made possible by “A More Perfect Union,” a special initiative of the National Endowment of the Humanities designed to demonstrate and enhance the critical role the humanities play in our nation.
Readings and the discussions that follow can take many formats, but each event features a group of people gathered to read portions of the speech. The reading provides an opportunity to open up discourse between community members about race, democracy, and our responsibilities to the past and to each other.
Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery in 1838 and lived for many years in Massachusetts. He delivered the Fourth of July speech on July 5, 1852, in Rochester, New York, to the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society.
“In Massachusetts, we know that an honest reckoning with difficult chapters in our history can heal and strengthen our communities,” said Brian Boyles, Executive Director of Mass Humanities. “We need to hear and heed Douglass’s words now more than ever.”
2022 Event Schedule
June 12
Salem
50 Washington St.
3pm
June 18
Oaks Bluff
The Helene Johnson & Dorothy West Foundation for Artists In Need
The Inkwell Beach
10:30 am
3pm
June 19/Juneteenth
Newton
Newton North High School
12:30pm
June 20
Sturbridge
1 Old Sturbridge Village Rd
11 am
June 25
Sudbury
72 Wayside Inn Rd 1
10am
June 26
Brockton
Frederick Douglass Neighborhood Association
Frederick Douglass Park
3pm
Natick
58 Eliot St, Natick
6pm
June 30
Cambridge
Virtual Event
4:30pm
Somerville
Somerville Museum One Westwood Road
Worcester
Worcester City Hall
455 Main St
12pm (Rain date July 1)
July 1
Boston
Mass Humanities & partners
Shaw Memorial Freedom Trail
12pm
July 2
Beverly
39 Hale Street
10am
Northampton
Historic Northampton with Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa’s office
46 Bridge St
11am
July 3
Lynn
North Shore Juneteenth Association
Frederick Douglass Memorial Park
6pm
Newburyport
Historical Society of Old Newbury
11 Brown Square (Garrison statue)
10am
July 4
Fall River
Greater Fall River Art Association 80 Belmont St
10am
North Andover
Friends of the 1836 Meeting House 190 Academy Road
12pm
Norwood
Old Parish Preservation Volunteers, Inc.
480 Washington St.
2pm
Plainfield
Plainfield Reads
312 Main Street
10am
Springfield
Martin Luther King Family Services
Court Square
6 pm
July 5
East Falmouth
Cape Cod Cape Verdean Museum and Cultural Center, Inc
67 Davisville Road
5 pm
Sharon
Memorial Park Beach
6 pm
