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Library of Congress

Exhibitions

Frederick Douglass's North Star

From 1847 to 1863, escaped slave and abolitionist Frederick Douglass (1817-1895) published the North Star with the aid of money and a press provided by British philanthropists. The paper was published in Rochester, New York. Douglass's goals were to "abolish slavery in all its forms and aspects, advocate UNIVERSAL EMANCIPATION, exalt the standard of public morality, and promote the moral and intellectual improvement of the COLORED PEOPLE, and hasten the day of FREEDOM to the Three Millions of our enslaved fellow countrymen." The paper also advanced women's rights, a cause that Douglass had championed since his participation in the first women's rights convention of 1848. Douglass also published another abolitionist paper, the Frederick Douglass Paper.

Copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin Owned by Noted Abolitionists

In 1903, women's rights activist Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) gave her personal book collection to the Library of Congress. Before sending the books, Miss Anthony inscribed many of the volumes. Her notations explain that this copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin was originally given to well-known anti-slavery and women's rights advocate Lydia Mott by her friend William Topp, a tailor and black abolitionist from Albany, New York. In 1874, Miss Mott gave the book to Miss Anthony. Published in 1852, Uncle Tom's Cabin sold 300,000 copies in its first year and intensified significantly the polarization of abolitionist and anti-abolitionist sentiment that contributed to the Civil War.

Film versions of Uncle Tom's Cabin

Uncle Tom's Cabin was often produced as a play and later as a film, and many people who did not read the book saw it dramatized. Although white actors usually played the parts in blackface, some productions starred African-American actors and singers. At least seven silent versions had been made by 1927, and a black actor, Sam Lucas, first played the title role on film in 1914. This title card, used in theater lobbies to advertise the film, is from a rare issue of a thirty-minute silent film originally released by Vitagraph Studio in 1910. Directed by J. Stuart Blackton, a noted director of the period, this version featured Maurice Costello, Clara Kimball Young, and Norma Talmadge, all of whom became major stars.

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The African-American Mosaic Influence of Prominent Abolitionists

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skip navigation From 1847 to 1863, escaped slave and abolitionist Frederick Douglass (1817-1895) published the North Star with the aid of money and a press provided by British philanthropists. The paper was published in Rochester, New York.

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This exhibition is made possible through the generous support of the Edward J. Trethaway '49 Exhibition Fund. Additional support has been provided by the Arnold B. '44 and Gloria Tofias Fund.

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"I will be heard!" - Abolitionism in America

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This exhibition is made possible through the generous support of the Edward J. Trethaway '49 Exhibition Fund. Additional support has been provided by the Arnold B. '44 and Gloria Tofias Fund.