These forms of material culture act as further tangible indicators of Douglass’s intimate expression of the natural world. In his east parlor, he exhibited behind a bust of the great orator and abolitionist Wendell Phillips an oil painting of dandelions framed in a deep purple velvet frame by his good close friend and artist Sarah Eddy.Īcross the room above the Greek statue, Psyche, is another oil painting of a bouquet of flowers and ferns displayed in a gold frame. These plants were found years later pressed in many of books in his home study.ĭouglass also revealed another extension of his deep affinity for seed-bearing plants with the display of his botanical paintings. Douglass collected and pressed, mustard, lesser club moss, wild rose, crimson clover, jasmine, wood sorrel, grape hyacinth, Kentucky bluegrass, thorny bamboo, sweet gum, red maple, trumpet honeysuckle, and ferns. His appreciation for plant specimens extended to the Victorian hobby of flower pressing. Douglass often brought flowers inside Cedar Hill to be curated in his study, parlors, and dining room. Throughout his life, he was a conscious collector of different types of flora and fauna. Douglass like many Victorians, also brought the natural world inside his home. He grew shrubs and harvested flowers such as persimmons, honeysuckle, and strawberry bushes that displayed vibrant colors. Educator and writer Josephine Turpin Washington once recalled that during one of her visits to Cedar Hill for one of his weekly Monday Night Literary Club meetings, Douglass made her take time out before she left to observe his “strawberry bed and his flowers.” His gardens acted as great trophies of his physical labor and he was not shy about showing them off to friends. He planted trees, and flowers, and cultivated fruits and vegetable gardens on the hillsides and glens of his property. Over the years Douglass continued to connect with nature. At times after breakfast and a morning walk he withdrew from everyone to his outdoor “little rustic,” human lair called the Growlery. He then turned to her and asked "let us be silent awhile and listen to nature.” ĭouglass treasured other moments in silence and sought to work in a more natural setting, when not at work in his study off the east parlor. As they both wandered through the woods, Douglass and she stopped along the way to rest on a fallen tree. With his walking stick in hand he strolled his estate, alone, with family members, or with other guests who sought to spend time with him.īritish journalist Catherine Impey on one of her visits to Cedar Hill in 1892 had an opportunity to accompany Douglass on one of his nature walks. Daily he explored and utilized his property’s every inch. Douglass lifted weights on his front lawn, lounged in the property’s hammocks, rockers, and played croquet with family and friends on its back lawn. He enjoyed spending a great amount of time out in Cedar Hill’s open air communing with nature. It signified to the world the heights to which he rose by the latter years of his life.įrederick Douglass's granddaughter Hattie playing croquet on the south lawn. This beautiful outlook acts as a vivid metaphor for Frederick Douglass’s life. To the far right is a tranquil vista of the state of Maryland. Off in the distance to its far left is a beautiful view of the Capitol. It stands atop a hill with an expansive panorama toward the south east of the city. He named his final residence Cedar Hill, because of the cedar trees that already encompassed its sprawling landscape. One of the reasons why Douglass chose this property was because of its serene physical character. In the summer of 1877, he purchased close to ten acres of farmland and a mansion on the outskirts of the city of Washington, leaving his A Street urban dwelling two blocks from the Capitol to escape the hustle and bustle of the District of Columbia for a more simple and tranquil countryside in the suburban village of Anacostia. He acquired a poet’s love for horticulture and the natural beauty around him. Aside from his staunch abolition, civil rights, and women’s rights activities, he displayed a lifelong attraction to nature’s great outdoors. Front view of Cedar Hill, circa 1880s to 1890s.įrederick Douglass escaped from human bondage to wage oratorical and written battles to ensure justice for men and women who were excluded from the democratic process.
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