The design of a new plaque which will remember abolitionist, Frederick Douglass and his connections to Edinburgh has been unveiled.
The memorial will be affixed to the outside of Howie’s restaurant on Waterloo Place in Edinburgh.
The site is where Douglass addressed a crowded meeting on 1 May 1846 speaking about the injustice of slavery during his tour of Britain and Ireland.
During the period, Douglass made several trips to Scotland and he always spoke to large crowds to help gain support for the movement which he championed. He was known as Scotland’s Anti-Slavery Agent.
Rt Hon. Angus Robertson, MSP for Edinburgh Central and Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, said: “Frederick Douglass was one of the most important voices of the 19th century in the global movement to end slavery. Recognising his visit to Edinburgh is an opportunity to reflect honestly on all aspects of Scotland’s past — including both Scotland’s participation in the atrocities of the slave trade and the role played by those who advocated for its abolition. By acknowledging that history we can learn from it, while also building new and positive relationships with people and communities around the world who have connections to Scotland, however those connections were formed. I hope that this recognition of Frederick Douglass’s presence here in Edinburgh will encourage people to reflect on their own ties to our nation and the shared histories that connect us.”
Stewart D. McLaurin, President of the White House Historical Association, said: “I’m honoured to join those convened on this occasion to commemorate the impact of Frederick Douglass in Scotland. His voice resonated loudly against American slavery here in Edinburgh but also in Washington at the White House where Abraham Lincoln, whose statue stands here in Old Calton Hill Cemetery, said to Douglass at his second inaugural address ‘there is no man in the country whose opinion I value more than yours!’”
At the event on Thursday Lisa Williams founder of the Edinburgh Caribbean Association, Research Associate at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh and Honorary Fellow in the School of History Classics and Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh. Ms Williams said she hoped that the plaque “will encourage people to find out aboht Frederick Douglass and also his first wife, Anna, who was integral to his freedom” and build a ‘movement of understanding’ about the role of Scotland in Douglass’ life.
The plaque recognises the significance of Douglass’s Edinburgh speech in 1846 making sure the connection between Scotland and one of the world’s most important abolitionist figures is remembered by future generations.
