Featured Books
Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom, by David Blight, is the Pulitzer Prize–winning biography of Douglass.
Frederick Douglass: A Life in Documents, is a collection of essays by eminent historians presenting letters and speeches by Douglass from the Gilder Lehrman Collection. This collection is a special project available only in the GLI gift shop.
Picturing Frederick Douglass, by Celeste-Marie Bernier (et al.), is an illustrated biography of Douglass, featuring more than 160 photographs taken of him throughout his life, making him the most photographed American of his era.
Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, by Eric Foner, chronicles the way in which Americans responded to the unprecedented changes unleashed by the Civil War and the end of slavery.
Young Frederick Douglass, by Dickson J Preston, takes a closer look at Douglass’s early life, from his birth in 1818 until his escape from slavery in 1838.
In Douglass’s Own Words
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave is Douglass’s first autobiography, published in 1845. It features Douglass’s life from his birth into slavery to his escape in 1838.
My Bondage and My Freedom is Douglass’s second autobiography, published in 1855. It focuses on Douglass’s life in slavery and his “free” life, which was free in name only, as he was still legally enslaved.
Life and Times of Frederick Douglass: Written by Himself is Douglass’s third and final autobiography, published in 1892, just three years before his death. It focuses on his lifelong fight against the tyranny of slavery and for equality.
The Portable Frederick Douglass is a collection of Douglass’s writings and speeches as well as full editions of all three of Douglass’s autobiographies and his only known work of fiction, The Heroic Slave.
For Younger Readers
Bread for Words, written by Shana Keller and illustrated by Kayla Stark, is a picture book biography told from the perspective of a young Frederick Douglass as he learns to read and write as an enslaved child. A video version of this book is also available, narrated by Hamilton cast member Simon Longnight
Facing Frederick: The Life of Frederick Douglass, by Tonya Bolden, delves into Douglass’s family life and travel abroad as well as his legacy as an abolitionist, orator, and author.
The Life of Frederick Douglass: A Graphic Narrative of a Slave’s Journey from Bondage to Freedom, written by David F. Walker and illustrated by Marissa Louise, is a graphic novel based on Douglass’s accounts of his own life.
Who Was Frederick Douglass?, by April Jones Prince (et al.), is a young readers’ biography of Frederick Douglass.
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