I learned today that the great Frederick Douglass, not knowing exactly what day he was born on, decided on February 14 as his official ‘birthdate.’ I learned this fact about the great human rights advocate from this video by Heather Cox Richardson. In honor of Frederick Douglass, here are 5 other interesting facts about him.

  1. He taught himself to read and write in secret. Douglass grew up in Maryland and his master eventually forbade him from learning. He continued to learn in secret, giving food to whites for reading lessons.

  2. He was probably the most photographed American of the 19th century, hence all the different pics you’ll see if you Google him. He figured actual photographs would humanize Black Americans and counteract the widespread racial charicatures that were so prevalent then.

  3. He named himself. A primary cause of his renaming was to make it harder to be recaptured. The last name he picked is based on a character in Sir Walter Scott’s poem The Lady of the Lake.

  4. He was a strong advocate for women’s rights. Indeed, he was the only Black person at the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, which was the first women’s rights convention in American history. He supported women’s suffrage, believing that the franchise belonged to all Americans.

  5. He was nominated as Vice President in 1872 by the Equal Rights Party. The head of the ticket was Victoria Woodhull, but Douglass apparently never acknowledged the nomination.