THE ESSAY COMPETITION
To honor Frederick Douglass’ speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”, the QLLA DEI Council and the Quechee Library are sponsoring an essay contest for High School and Junior High School students in the Town of Hartford. Through an anonymous donor, there is a cash prize for the winners.
Link to submit is
here: https://bit.ly/FDEssay25
ABOUT FREDERICK DOUGLASS
In 1852, in Rochester, New York, Frederick Douglass gave a famous speech advocating for the end of slavery, but, more importantly, he presented a different perspective on the annual Fourth of July celebration that embraced our Independence, personal liberty and freedom. For Douglass, the representation that America was the land of the free, was not true! Especially for the thousands of Black Americans who at this time were still enslaved.
Frederick Douglass was a freed slave and passionate Abolitionist who challenged the President of the United States to end slavery. He was an influential advocate who through persistence, politics and numerous personal meetings with Abraham Lincoln persuaded Lincoln to end slavery. Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863.
THE PROMPT – While slavery has been abolished, are Frederick Douglass’ remarks of 1852 still relevant in the United States today? Why or why not?
Essays must be no more than 500 words and submitted using this form by June 9th at 11:59pm.
WINNERS
Winners will be notified via email prior to the July 5th Frederick Douglass reading on the Quechee Green. On Saturday, July 5th at the Gazebo on the Quechee Green, the annual community gathering for the reading of Douglass’s speech at 11AM will include a reading of the winning essays. Winning essay writers will also receive $250.
Questions can be directed to info@quecheelibrary.org