In Worcester, Community Will Read Frederick Douglass July 4 Speech

WORCESTER, MA — The Worcester NAACP this week will lead a community reading of an 1852 Frederick Douglass speech that that highlighted the contradiction of celebrating July 4 while millions in the U.S. were enslaved.

The reading of Douglass' "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" will happen before Worcester's main July 4 celebration on Thursday at East Park — the city's first in-person Independence Day celebration since 2019.

Douglass was born into slavery in 1818, but taught himself to read in write in secret while enslaved in the Baltimore area. In 1838, he successfully escaped slavery by hopping a train to Philadelphia, and eventually settled in New Bedford with his free wife, Anna Murray. He began his work as an abolitionist speaker, politician and writer after his move to Massachusetts. He first delivered his 1852 July 4 speech in Rochester, N.Y., during an event celebrating the Declaration of Independence.

The speech reading will take place on Thursday beginning at noon at the Worcester Common 455 Main St. The reading will also featuring a performance of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" by Liyah McBride, and a spoken word performance by Ashley Wonder reflecting on Douglass' work. Worcester NAACP President Fred Taylor will also speak about the current state of race relations in the U.S.