Frederick Douglass was born into slavery around 1817 in Tuckahoe, Maryland. Douglass wanted very much to learn to read, but the slave owner refused, commenting, “Learning will spoil the best slave in the world.” Douglass bribed some white boys to teach him anyway.At the age of 21, Douglass escaped to Massachusetts. He was still in danger because the fugitive slave laws decreed that an escaped slave could be captured and returned south. He managed to elude capture by changing his name and gaining help from a number of abolitionists. In I841, Douglass began working for the abolitionist cause and discovered a gift for oratory. His stirring words moved people greatly; some who came to hear him in order to make fun left convinced that slavery was wrong. Douglass was soon a leader and a national figure in the movement against slavery.

In l847 he became editor of an anti-slavery weekly in Rochester, New York. After the Civil War, he worked for voting rights for African Americans. He died in 1895.

School Info »

Serves High School students in grades 9th through 12th.

Principle: Vallene Cooks

School Colors: Orange & Black

School Mascot: Trojans

Established in 1891

School Named for: Abolitionist Frederick Douglass

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Located in Board District 5

US Congressional District 6

State Senate District 43

State House District 99

County Commissioner District 1

City County Ward OKC 7