Frederick+Douglass+in+the+QCA


 * Frederick Douglass in the Quad Cities Area **

 Original Author: Aimee Tacey, ENG206

 Revision Author:

Frederick Douglass, the famous abolitionist, orator, and writer, came close to the Quad Cities during many lectures given in the surrounding areas. He spoke in Galesburg, Elmwood, Peoria, and Monmouth, Illinois.

Douglass came through Galesburg, Illinois in late February of 1859. He spoke at no less than three venues during his time in Galesburg. His large demand in the area was due to the fact that “the black community in Galesburg was more active, and articulate, than those elsewhere in western Illinois” (W.I.R.S. Vol 6). The community had organized the African Literary and Debating Society. And the black community, in general, was more aggressive “in protesting oppression and seeking entrance into the larger society” (W.I.R.S. Vol 6). The combination of these things brought many black leaders of national importance to Galesburg, Frederick Douglass included.

Douglass lectured in Elmwood, Illinois “on one of the frostiest and coldest nights [he had] ever experienced ... one of those bleak and flinty nights, when prairie winds pierce like needles, and a step on the snow sounds like a file on the steel teeth of a saw” (Douglass). Douglass left Elmwood on the midnight train after his lecture for Peoria, Illinois. However, he was concerned about obtaining lodging in Peoria due to some previous issues finding a place to stay there (it is uncertain if his 1859 trip to Peoria was the previous time mentioned or the time from which he was currently speaking, for Douglass visited Peoria on quite a few occasions and the year is not specified). Douglass had spent the previous time without lodging wandering the Peoria streets, but the extreme cold of his present trip was intolerable for any man to be left out in. Douglass voiced his concerns to his friend, Mr. Brown, with whom he had stayed with during his time in Elmwood. Mr. Brown told Douglass that if he had any problems obtaining lodging, he should call upon a Mr. Robert J. Ingersoll who lived in Peoria. Mr. Brown said that Mr. Ingersoll was a kind man and would gladly open his doors to Douglass. When Douglass did arrive in Peoria, he actually got a room at Peoria's finest hotel, so he had no need to call upon Mr. Ingersoll, but the next morning, at a decent hour, he went to visit him anyway out of curiosity. Douglass was not disappointed, for he found Mr. Ingersoll to be just as kind as Mr. Brown had described him to be (Douglass). Thus, Douglass found his more recent trip to Peoria to be much more pleasant than the last.

During Douglass' 1859 trip to Peoria, he lectured at Rouse’s Hall on Wednesday March 1st. The weather was fierce. Tickets for the event went for .25 cents per couple and .15 cents for each single person attending. Many tickets were sold, “Notwithstanding the unpleasant weather that prevailed, one of the largest and most intelligent audiences that ever assembled in Rouse’s Hall, listened [that] evening to the eloquent and scathing lecture of Frederick Douglass upon the subject of American Slavery. The hall was literally packed, and the most marked attention paid throughout by everyone, the speaker being often interrupted by bursts of applause” (Goitein).

Douglass also lectured in Monmouth, Illinois at a later date//, “Douglass // spoke to a spell-bound audience in Monmouth on February 21, 1866, in Hardin's Hall” (W.I.R.S. Vol 13-14).

All around the outlying areas of the Quad Cities, through wind, snow and ice, Frederick Douglass drew audience and praise.


 * Works Cited **

Western Illinois Regional Studies Volume 6. [] Douglass, Frederick. //The complete autobiographies of Frederick Douglass//. Radford, VA: Wilder Pub., 2008. Print. Patricia Goitein, Editor. Galena Trail Committee of Peoria County Vol. VII Issue #1, January, 2007. [] Western Illinois Regional Studies Volume 13-14. University Libraries. 1990.

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