residents and volunteers who build community engagement in honor of the spirit of Frederick Douglass The Garden Our Frederick Douglass Neighborhood Garden is a space of inspiration in Downtown Brockton. Thank you to all who have helped and donated . Read More Events Dicussing Douglass 5.27.26 Reading Douglass 7.11.26 Frederick Douglass Bust Installed Annual Meeting 2026 Membership Our members embrace the Frederick Douglass Mission and work for unity and peace; educating on Frederick Douglass' life and teachings; in our corner of the world. Frederick Douglass Neighborhood Assocciation is a 501c3 registered non-profit. Learn more here We are Brockton residents and volunteers who honor the legacy of Frederick Douglass in our neighborhood through community engagement and the arts. /our story Our vision Get In Touch First name* Last name* Email* Phone* Would you like to be involved ? "What to A Slave..." Reading Gardening History Discussions Creating Community Spaces in the Neighborhood? Questions? Comments? Submit Events To view a brief slideshow that tells the story of the Frederick Douglass Neighborhood Association, click HERE.

What, to the Slave, is the 4th of July? We read in many languages as one community. Funded by the generosity of MassHumanities, the Frederick Douglass Neighborhood Association has established and annual tradition of reading Douglass' speech "What is the Fourth of July to the Slave" in the three dominant languages of our city: English, Cape Verdean Creole, and Haitian Creole. In 2017 we also had readers translate and recite paragraphs in Italian, Polish, Lithuanian, Greek, Spanish, Gaelic and Mandarin Chinese to honor our ancestors. After reading in many langages as one community, our participants stayed for conversation and pie and lemonade in the community garden.

WE ARE EXCITED TO REPORT THAT WE HAVE BEEN HONORED WITH AN AWARD OF A $10,000 GRANT FROM MASS HUMANITIES!!!! The Frederick Douglass Neighborhood Association has a dream – and a plan - to enhance the community garden so it becomes a place of hope, a place of reflection, a place of peace, an oasis in a challenged section of the city. Most importantly, it should be a place for folks to learn how to connect heroes like Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King Jr. to the tapestry of cultures that live in Brockton today – Haitians and Toussaint L’Ouverture; Cape Verdeans and Amilcar Cabral; women and Susan B. Anthony; the Irish and Daniel O’Connell. In the early days of 2015 we worked diligently on a grant proposal and submitted it to Mass Humanities. As the spring started to melt this year's record snowfall, and warm the garden's ground, we were informed that we have been awarded $10,000!!! MassHumanities conducts and supports programs that use history, literature, philosophy, and the other humanities disciplines to enhance and improve civic life in Massachusetts. The 2015 MassHumanities thematic focus is on exploring how Americans participate in creating the basic social and economic relationships that shape our society – and the challenges to this process past and present. There are two major components of our "Stride Toward Freedom" Project - first, a community conversation about civil rights and justice and our role as citizens, and then art and signage in the Garden that reflects that conversation. This will be held on September 20, 2015, from 2 pm to 4:30 pm, at the War Memorial Building on West Elm Street in Brockton. Using the title of Dr. King’s 1958 book about the Montgomery bus boycott, “Stride Toward Freedom” our goal is to create a garden pathway so that visitors to the garden can walk the path of Douglass and King and learn from interpretive panels designed by different ethnic groups in our community. The meaning of freedom, equality, nonviolent civil disobedience, the transformative nature of education are all themes of the panels. Highlighting civil rights activists from other cultures, the ultimate goal of the garden’s pathway of footsteps is to inspire residents to learn more about the history and diversity of their city, how our freedom fighter icons are connected, and to encourage them to be actively engaged participants in our civic process. The Frederick Douglass Association is thankful to have the support and partnership of Mayor Bill Carpenter and the City of Brockton as we work on this exciting project. In addition, we are honored that Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School students, under the dedicated supervision of carpentry teacher Roy Blanchard, are already engaged in the building of the signs, and will assist in the installation. We could not accomplish this without the generosity of the owners of the land that hosts our garden, Mr. Robert Howard and Mr. Jimmie Thomas, members of Messiah Baptist Church. Donations have been received from the Just Checking In Foundation, and the Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation. Our scholars are Willie Wilson of the Brockton Historical Society and currently a teacher at Cardinal Spellman High School, Dr. Joao Rosa, professor at Bridgewater State University and Executive Director of the Pedro Pires Institute for Cape Verdean Studies; Charlot Lucien, founder and co-director of the Haitian Artists Assembly of Massachusetts; and Lee Farrow, Adjunct Professor and Community Scholar at Stonehill College. We look forward to working with our scholars, their students, our members, volunteers from the BAWIB WAVE program, Helping2Unite Brockton Clean-Up crew, and most importantly our friends and neighbors to make this program a success. The pathway will lead the visitor through the existing planting beds to the murals. Each will have a special QR code on it, so that visitors can go to a website and read the narrative in their own native language. We will also explore the use of a 1-800 call in number posted on the signs that will offer verbal descriptions of the panels to those who are visually impaired. One goal is that plants used in the garden will be reflective of those in the garden Mr. Douglass maintained at his home, Cedar Hill. The choice of building and hardscape materials must also keep the challenge of high durability and low maintenance in mind. The end result of our “Stride Toward Freedom” project will not only be a garden of information, reflection and quiet respite in the middle of a bustling and diverse city, but also a place where citizens can find common ground and be inspired to participate in the re-creation of a city that will be beloved by all. More about Mass Humanities: Massachusetts Foundation for Humanities and Public Policy, now simply known as Mass Humanities, was established in 1974 as the state-based affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). It is an independent programming and grant-making organization that receives support from the NEH and the Massachusetts Cultural Council as well as private sources. Visit www.masshumanities.org or contact Rose Sackey Milligan, Program Officer, at rsackey-milligan@masshumanities.org or at (413) 584-8440 ext. 101 / Stride Toward Freedom Project

An Evening with Frederick Douglass Speakers representing the diversity of Brockton join Mr. Douglass in the April 2018 program Douglass Bicentennial Display 2018 installation at the Brockton Post Office for the Bicentennial of Douglass' birth WAVE project Freedom Path of concrete art with social justice quotes installed by the youth of Brockton Ice Cream Sundae Sunday Dusty the therapeutic miniature horse joins in the festivities, August 2018 2017 Summer Sundae Social We learn about Frederick Douglass Having ie cream & meeting neighbors Delicious Reading Douglass in 12 languages Show More Our story in images 2013-2018

Douglass in his office in Haiti (National Park Service) Cabral vidaslusofonas.pt Douglass and Anthony, Sculpture Garden Rochester, NY Artist rendition of potential panels in our garden The Garden As Text Many chapters in the life of Frederick Douglass have themes that touch the diversity of Brockton today. Our goal is that the garden's Stride Toward Freedom Path will serve as the “text” to stories that will highlight those connections and create a common ground and bond of understanding. In each instance, we also ask “What would this civil rights activist and freedom fighter’s philosophy, approach and advice be as we grapple with the challenges of our society and our city today?” Haiti : Frederick Douglass served as the minister to Haiti for two years. Toussaint Louverture (1743 to 1803) was the leader of the Haitian Revolution – the only slave revolt which resulted in the establishment of a nation. In a preface to a biography of Louverture by Victor Schoelcher (that was never published), Douglass wrote: “The whole Christian world was at that time against (Louverture). England, France, Spain, Portugal, the United States and Holland were all slaveholders. They could only look with horror upon a great Negro leading his class in rebellion for its freedom. His high character, his valor, his wisdom, and his unflinching fidelity to the cause of liberty are an inheritance of which his people should be proud.” Ireland: Douglass traveled to Ireland and Britain in the 1840s, arriving in Ireland in 1845 at the cusp of the devastating Famine. Daniel O’Connell (1775-1847), Irish campaigner for Catholic Emancipation and Repeal of the Act of Union, played a prominent role in the anti-slavery movement there. In an article that appeared in ‘History Today, author Christine Kinealy wrote: “Visiting Ireland in 1845, Frederick Douglass was appalled by the poverty of the Irish people, likening their condition to that of the most degraded American slaves. When touring the United Kingdom, prior to a lecture in Cork, Douglass was referred to by O’Connell himself as ‘the Black O’Connell’, thus linking the two men in the public mind with the abolitionist cause.” Cape Verde: Douglass worked for several years in the shipyards of Baltimore as a caulker. It is not surprising that he ended up in New Bedford and Nantucket, which in the early 1800s were populated by many Cape Verdeans and Azorians who had arrived in whaling ships. Also prevalent in Nantucket and New Bedford were the Quaker “Friends”, who took an early stance against slavery and inequality. Amilcar Cabral (1924 – 1973) encouraged Cape Verdeans and people of Portuguese Guinea to support the opposition against colonial rule. He helped to organize a liberation movement which eventually became the African Party for Independence for Guinea and Cape Verde. He was assassinated in 1973. He is quoted as saying: “Always bear in mind that the people are not fighting for ideas, for the things in anyone’s head. They are fighting to win material benefits, to live better and in peace, to see their lives go forward, to guarantee the future of their children. . .” Brockton Abolitionists: Hotel keeper Edward F. Bennett (1804 -1887) of Brockton was also outspoken in his position against slavery. A huge sycamore tree outside of his stables was a symbol of liberty for the slaves who hid in his building, a stop on the Underground Railroad. That tree and stable was located on High Street – now Frederick Douglass Way – just steps from our Garden. Women’s Rights: Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) spoke out for equal rights for women at our Liberty Tree, as did many other suffragettes. When 300 women gathered in Seneca Falls, New York for the very first women’s rights convention, Frederick Douglass was one of only 40 men to attend. The “Declaration of Sentiments” drawn up at that convention contained eleven resolutions, and the ninth stated it was a woman’s duty to secure the right to vote. In an editorial published that same year, 1848, in The North Star, Douglass wrote, ". . . in respect to political rights . . . there can be no reason in the world for denying to woman the elective franchise.” Douglass and Anthony had a lifelong friendship – but it was not always an easy one. Anthony fought for universal suffrage and did not agree that the black man should receive the right to vote before women did. “Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: From the “I Have a Dream” speech delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.: “We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now . This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.”

2017 Happenings Plant and Seed Swap 2017 Plant and Seed Swap 2016 Reading Frederick Douglass 2017 PopUp Village 1917 - 2017 Summer "Sundae" Social The Pergola 2016 The Little Free Library .....and more.......

To see the MassHumanities video which highlights our 2019 reading in Brockton click here . Board Member Willie A. Wilson Jr. opens the program with his commentary and featured readings; the venue of Messiah Baptist Church and all our wonderful readers and volunteers all appear in the video as well. FDNA is grateful to MassHumanities for this program, and their funding. #RFDT2019 . Reading Frederick Douglass Together - June 30, 2019 Join us in the community garden on June 30th, at 4 pm, as we read Douglass' famous speech "What to the Slave is the 4th of July". To honor the diversity of Brockton, we read the speech in the language of our ancestors. How does that work? Well, visit our Facebook page, find the images of the 45 paragraphs of the speech, choose one paragraph that you would like to translate and read, and then post that information on our Facebook page. We'll mark that paragraph with your name and chosen language, and then on June 30th you'll read that paragaph to honoryour family's legacy and life here in America. The audience will be able to read along in English so they will understand, as well. And if you would rather just come and read spontaneously in English, that is perfectly fine as well. To see how it works, you can watch the tape on our local Brockton Community Access channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72sm91mfAng&t=564s We are grateful to MassHumanities for funding this event, and to the Team Brockton Resident Leader Program for their minigrant. Assisting in the Reading are our community parnters Criolas Unidas and the Haitian Artists Assembly of Massachusetts. Our moderator is Willie A. Wilson, Jr. The support of the Brockton Historical Society is also valued. 5th Annual Plant and Seed Swap May 5th Our 5th Annual Plant and Seed Swap in the community garden, Sunday May 5th, 2019 from 12:30 pm to 3 pm. How does a swap work? You choose some seeds or bare root plants from your garden, bag them up, label them carefully, and then bring them to the specially marked swap area in our community garden. Other gardeners will have their swap items ready to share! If you are new to gardening and do not have a swap item, no worries. Donate a gently used book to our Little Free Library and you can go home with a seedling donated by The Farm at Stonehill, while supplies last. We'll have a fun afternoon - free arts and crafts for the kids, music, tables staffed by The Brockton Garden Club, Will's Lawns, Good Samaritan Medical Center, our very own Beekeeper, just to name a few. We'll have free giveaways, while supplies last. And since it's Cinco De Mayo, a $1 donation to the garden will buy you a taco lunch, with a Mexican Wedding Cookie for dessert. Because we are gardeners, we'll hold the event even if there is a gentle rain - but if it's anything that would make our tents blow over, and we'll reschedule. So watch our Facebook page for instant updates. There is plenty of free parking around the garden in the city employee lots that are empty on weekends. Use 95 Frederick Douglass Avenue Brockton MA 02301 on your GPS to find us. The Brockton-Lynn Connection The City of Lynn, Massachusetts, where Frederick Douglass lived from 1841 to 1845, invited the Frederick Douglass Neighborhood Association to install the traveling Bicentennial Exhibit in the Grand Foyer of the Lynn Auditorium, part of City Hall. Noube Rateau, award winning documentary filmmaker, and his Radio and TV Production class from Lynn Vocational Technical High School, assisted in the installation. Wendy Joseph, the chair of the Lynn Douglass Bicentennial Committee, oversaw the project. The exhibit will be on display at city hall through February 2019 in honor of Black History Month. The exhibit explores the connection of Douglass to our Haitian, Cape Verdean, and Irish American populations, as well as to the women's equality movement and the establishment of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment. The students The finished installation Many hands make light work The students 1/13

Through the generosity of donations from Good Samaritan Medical Center of Brockton, and the South of Boston Gardeners with George Stanchfield our pergola over the relaxin' patio was completed in August of 2016 sketch It starts with a sketch Vision And we give the carpenter a photo. Kenny in the shade Kenny gets to work The "crew" With his helper from the Boys and Girls Club in progress The frame takes shape Canvas The canvas goes on for shade Looks perfect The dream comes true Relax The perfect place to relax

Brockton as a member of the Douglass Bicentennial Community. As part of the world-wide commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Douglass in 1818, the FDNA hosted a number of events, starting with "An Evening with Frederick Douglass" on April 12th. Our travelling exhibit (see details below) was shared with a number of institutions in the city, including the post office, city hall, local schools and the public library. In July, through the generosity of HarborOneBank, the area around our Liberty Tree was cleaned up and a new retaining wall installed. In August of 2018 Dr. Gary Hylander, local professor and historian, led a discussion at the library. His focus was on the time Douglass spent in New England. In October representatives of FDNA travelled to Lynn, Masachusetts for a day that included a tour of the graves of abolitionists in Lynn who were associates of Mr. Douglass, followed by a lively program of spoken word and song at the Washington Street Baptist Church. Our final event of the year was hosted by the Brockton Assembly of God Church and featured local history teacher and scholar Willie A. Wilson Jr who spoke on "Douglass: The Man, The Myth, The Legacy" and his relevance in today's troubled times. Our Douglass Bicentennial Exhibit (see information below) has been traveling Brockton and has been on view at City Hall, the Gilmore School, the Main Post Office, and at the Brockton Public Library where it was part of a July 24, 2018 unveiling and event to celebrate the Library's Immigration Dialogue Series Program. Video of Douglass Exhibit at City Hall Released as part of the Douglass Bicentennial Community Celebration For immediate release February 28, 2018 Contact FDNA - Lynn Smith, 774.381.8050 or madeline-smith@hotmail.com BROCKTON, MA ….. The Frederick Douglass Neighborhood Association (FDNA) has released a video highlighting its exhibit on Frederick Douglass that has been on view to the public during the month of February in the historic Brockton City Hall. City Hall historian Bob Martin and local teacher and historical society member Willie A. Wilson, Jr. provided the commentary for the exhibit, and the priceless Civil War paintings that surrounded in in the Grand Corridor of City Hall. Mr. Martin and Mrs. Wilson were joined for the taping by the President of the Frederick Douglass Neighborhood Association, Lynn Smith. The exhibit is one of several events planned through the City to honor Frederick Douglass, born in 1818, during this nationwide bicentennial celebration. FDNA has joined the Douglass Bicentennial Community. The United States Congress established a commission to plan and carry out programs across the United States to honor Frederick Douglass, one of the most transformative figures in United States history. Escaping from slavery in 1838, he was a writer, orator, and tireless fighter for equal rights and the end of slavery. During the time of the Civil War, Brockton was known as North Bridgewater. City Hall was built from 1892 to 1894. Douglass lived in New Bedford from 1838 to 1842, the year he moved to Lynn, Massachusetts. During this time frame he toured for the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society and gave many speeches in the eastern counties of Massachusetts. It is believed that he visited Brockton (North Bridgewater) during this period of his life. He spoke at a location not far from our Liberty Tree, on Frederick Douglass Avenue, renamed in his honor in 2014. The video was produced by Brockton Community Access and was filmed by Jay Miller. One of the most impactful moments in the filming was Mr. Martin’s description of “The Spirit of 1861”, a painting depicting a runaway slave escaping north, but facing a cruel pursuit by slave hunters with dogs. “I think that this painting, above all, sets the stage for the current Douglass exhibit,” said Mr. Martin. “The painting almost did not make it into the collection, but it is now an important reminder of the struggle echoed in the exhibit.” Mr. Wilson during his comments highlighted the painting of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment and its connection to the relationship that Douglass had with President Abraham Lincoln. The President asked Mr. Douglass to encourage black men to join the 54th – but among other issues, Mr. Douglass had grave concerns over the unequal pay scale between white soldiers and black. To view the video, visit Brockton Community Access at The Brockton Channels on YouTube and click this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUhnp4VYBEE The Douglass Exhibit will travel to the Main Post Office in Brockton on Commercial Street for display during the month of March. Then in August it will move to the Main Branch of the Brockton Public Library. Visitors there will also be able to see the round table made from the 1763 sycamore tree that once stood as a visual cue to Brockton’s stop on the Underground Railroad. Not far from that site is where Mr. Douglass, and many other abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison and Lucretia Mott, spoke out against slavery.

2015 2015 Year in Review - highlights of events throughout the year Blessing of the Animals, October 4 A 20 minute open-air prayer service was held to honor 12th century St. Francis of Assisi. People of all ages were invited to bring teddy bears, pet photos, dogs, cats and all beloved creatures for this special event in the newly rejuvenated garden. Reverend Jill Wiley presided. Stride Toward Freedom, Together The Sunday, September 20, 2015 Program was funded by a Mass Humanities Grant : Fo more information, see our pages: Program And Grant Reading of Frederick Douglass, June 28 We gathered at our Liberty Tree in Brockton, where Mr. Edward Bennett, Brockton abolitionist, greeted the audience and told the story of his stable, which was a stop on the Underground Railroad in the mid 1800s. Mr. Douglass addressed the city at this very site, most likely while on a speaking tour for the Massachusetts Antislavery Society in 1841. Accompanied by songs performed by members of our Brockton churches, we walked from the Liberty Tree to the Douglass Garden where we read the speech in three languages familiar to our community: English, Haitian Creole, and Cape Verde Creole. The Massasoit Theater Company started us off, and then members of the audience read in the language each chooses. After completion of the communal reading, we enjoyed conversation, community spirit, and ice cream sundaes in the garden. Picket Fence Public Art Installation, August 25 The students in "WAVE": Work-Achieve-Volunteer-Experience, a program of YouthWorks and the Brockton Area Workforce Investment Board, dewsigned, painted and installed these welcoming gates to our garden in the summer of 2015. More pictures HERE . Spring Clean-Up, April 21 Members of the Brockton Boys and Girls Club joined with FDNA Volunteers in April of 2015 to rake up leaves, deadhead old plants, pull weeds, spread mulch, and get the garden ready for a busy year.

"The fence is installed for the Brockton Community to enjoy. Visit the Frederick Douglass Community Garden at 95 Frederick Douglass Ave to see this wonderful work of public art designed and installed by the YouthWorks Summer Jobs WAVE participants. We are very proud of our WAVE Team. Thank you for your time and dedication to serving our community this summer. Special thanks to Jimmy Palantzas, Stephanie Savas, Paul Landerholm, Mr. Nick and Mrs. Chris Palantzas." ................Krystel Love, Director of Youth Services, YouthWorks OneStop Career Center WAVE: Work-Achieve-Volunteer-Experience A program of YouthWorks and the Brockton Area Workforce Investment Board. Learn more at www.bawib.org You are invited Art Work in progress Expert installation help WAVE Rocks! Walking the fence through downtown Its new home in the community garden Looks good! Time out for lemonade Mayor Bill Carpenter approves

2018 Building * Growing * Learning Reading Douglass Together More Here A Night With Doughlass An Evening with Frederick Douglass See More Pictures HERE Douglass Bicentennial