The life and legacy of Frederick Douglas on display in library
The “Frederick Douglass: From Slavery to Freedom,” exhibit will be on display in the Marvin Library until Saturday, Mar. 15. Each month, the library brings in new pictorial exhibits to educate students, faculty and staff on different subjects as history.
This exhibit is on loan from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
The Gilder Lehrman Institute develops different traveling exhibitions composed of pictorial panels that are used in places such as schools, colleges and libraries.
The “Frederick Douglass: From Slavery to Freedom,” exhibit traces the life of Frederick Douglass through authentic pictures and letters.
This panel exhibition explores the early life of Douglass, an African-American abolitionist.
In addition to the exhibit, a three layered book case dressed with various books of civil rights activist and information brochures on the life of Frederick Douglass is on exhibit in the library.
“The exhibit, like all exhibits, are sized based on their cost and our budget. I would have liked for it to have been larger for students to notice better, but the budget couldn’t cover the cost,” said Brenda Hazard, director of the Marvin Library.
On Thursday, Mar.6, in coordination with the exhibit, Guy Peartree, a historical storyteller performed a one-act play in the character of Frederick Douglass.
The play took place in 1859, when Douglass was sought for arrest for his alleged activity in John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry. The play focused on Douglass’s look back on his life from his birth into slavery.
The play also focused on his relationships and experiences on the slave plantation and his education.
“We are all affected by the significance of Frederick Douglass’s life, and his story. He is a secretly taught slave, self freed, and within human rights, civil rights and history we should all learn about his struggle and sacrifice. It paved the way for many others to make steps into this country and others,” said Hazard.
Being that the exhibit is smaller than past exhibits, Hazard feels it is harder for students and faculty to see it.
“I see that students hardly notice the exhibit, but we as librarians try to take as much effort to make the exhibit noticeable and know we can make alterations and try to have professors and students spread the word,” said Hazard.