Literary Treasures | A Conversation on Frederick Douglass with Benjamin Park

Benjamin Park, Professor of American History at Sam Houston State University, discusses the profound religious dimension of Frederick Douglass. Having grown up in an environment that forbade him to learn how to read and write, Douglass overcame all odds to become one of America’s best writers, orators, and thinkers. His legacies of fighting for abolition, equal rights, and justice are unparalleled. However, the depth of his theological mind often gets overlooked, as a deep sense of providence and apocalypticism permeated much of his worldview. This presentation gives a brief overview of the role that religion played in Douglass’s orations, memoirs, and editorials, positing him as a crucial part of America’s broader religious tradition.