The memoirs of Frederick Douglass
Fri, Oct 27 2023, 2pm
The Fourth Friday Book Club will meet from 2 to 3:30 p.m. CDT on October 27 to discuss the life and narrative of Frederick Douglass.
Among the Frederick Douglass memoirs are
- My Bondage and My Freedom
- Life and Times of Frederick Douglass
- Frederick Douglass: Speeches and Writings
- The Portable Frederick Douglass, edited by John Stauffer and Henry Louis Gates Jr.
The Portable Frederick Douglass includes the full range of Douglass' works, the full narrative of Douglass' life, extracts from My Bondage and My Freedom, and the many brilliant speeches that launched Douglass' political career—regarded as the greatest oratory of the Civil War era.
What the Slave is to the Fourth of July was delivered on July 5, 1852. (Douglass insisted he would not appear on July 4 and chose July 5.) It is no exaggeration to say this speech is the most damning critique of American hypocrisy (his words) ever spoken.
The life of Frederick Douglass is a wholly exceptional story of self-determination and advancement. He was born in 1817 or 1818, with an enslaved mother consigned to households other than where the baby lived. His father, likely a white man, was unknown. “Genealogical trees do not flourish among slaves,” to quote Douglass.
Douglass was the most photographed American of any race in the 19th century, both in the United States and in Europe.
At about age 20, he escaped slavery. Douglass traveled widely as a celebrated abolitionist advocate. Despite this, he was routinely ejected from whites-only railroad cars, restaurants, and lodgings.
Douglass wrote analyses of court opinions that remain in constitutional law casebooks; he was widely published in newspaper and magazine columns, and hundreds of pamphlets on topics that included women's equality, history, philosophy, literature, art, and international affairs.
The Fourth Friday Book Club welcomes all UMRA members! For more information, please email Dorothy Marden or Maggie Catambay.
Upcoming Events
If you currently live in your own home or apartment, have you looked ahead to when you might want to consider a senior living option? Do you have any idea what those options might be? How much they cost? What they provide? UMRA’s May 14 workshop will provide an overview of the world of senior living and the basic information you need.
You’re invited to join the final Family History Interest Group meeting for 2023–24. This will be an opportunity to ask questions related to family history, share insights, talk about recent projects, and suggest topics for next year.
Stephanie Daily will lead the discussion of Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by best-selling author Mary Roach when the UMRA Book Club meets via Zoom at 2 p.m. on Friday, May 17.
The May 20 hike will start at the Historic Lift Bridge in Stillwater and go along the river to the new bridge, cross over and then back on the Wisconsin side, a total of approximately 5 miles. Most of the route is paved. We will eat lunch after at Brian's Bar and Grill in Stillwater. Car pooling will be available.
Climatologist and meteorologist Mark Seeley joined the U of M faculty in 1978 and has been a weekly commentator on Minnesota Public Radio since 1992. We are honored to welcome him as our guest speaker for UMRA’s May Luncheon Forum and 2024 Annual Meeting. He is always entertaining and informative.
UMRA’s Fourth Friday Book Club welcomes back, for the second time, author Julie Schumacher, U of M Regents professor of creative writing and English, for a conversation about her novel The Shakespeare Requirement.
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Get out to the ballpark with fellow UMRA members for the annual U of M Day at Target Field as the Minnesota Twins take on the Oakland Athletics on June 14 at 7:10 p.m.
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Picnic under the covered, open-air Como pavilion, gaze at the water, spy some birds, catch up with friends and former colleagues, and meet new members. We’ll have lunch with plenty of time for visiting and then compete in teams as we are challenged by our Quiz master(s)!
Healthy aging, mindfulness, fighting ageism, and more will be the focus of the third annual Age-Friendly University Day to be held on the U of M Twin Cities campus.