Frederick Douglass National Historic Site

The famous abolitionist, writer, lecturer, statesman, and Underground Railroad conductor Frederick Douglass (1817--1895) resided in this twenty room home on Cedar Hill from 1877 until his death. Abraham Lincoln referred to him as the most meritorious man of the nineteenth century.

Douglass was born a slave on Maryland's Eastern Shore and was given the name Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey. The exact date of his birth is unknown. It was about the year 1817. His mother was a negro slave and his father was a white man. At an early age, he learned to read and write, and escaped to freedom in the North, changing his name to Douglass to avoid recapture. Eventually he settled in Rochester, New York, and was active in the abolitionist cause. He was a leader of Rochester's Underground Railroad movement and became the editor and publisher of the North Star, an abolitionist newspaper. After the Civil War, Douglass came to Washington, DC, and served as the marshall of the District of Columbia and was appointed recorder of deeds for the city. In 1889, President Harrison appointed him minister-resident and consul general of the Republic of Haiti and charge d'affaires for the Dominican Republic. During all of this activity, Douglass remained an outspoken advocate for the rights of African Americans. Though not directly associated with Douglass' involvement in the Underground Railroad, this National Historic Site helps us to better understand the life of the man who is recognized as "the father of the civil rights movement."

Address: Cedar Hill is located at 1411 W Street SE, in Anacostia, a neighborhood east of the Anacostia River in Southeast Washington, D.C.

Telephone: (202) 426-5961

Metro: Anacostia (Green Line)

Hours: mid-Oct-mid-April: Daily 9 am - 4 pm
mid-April-mid-Oct.: Daily 9 am-5 pm

Admission: Free