Subject: Invite from Mass Humanities
Dear Community Partners
I am proud to invite your Organization to participate in joining us for a Communal reading and Celebration by
the people of Lynn, of Frederick Douglass' fiery 1852 Fourth of July
address, "The Meaning of the Fourth of July for the Negro" (abridged,
Douglass took 3 hours)
The Event will be held on Sunday, July 3rd at 6:30 in Lynn. We are working on confirming the location, but we promise it will be spectacular!
The event, and more information about it is pasted below, is free and open to all – and all are invited to participate. It
is sponsored by a growing list of local civic and educational
organizations, including the City of Lynn, Mass Humanities, Salem Stage
College, The Lynn Museum, The Highlands Coalition, and more.
As
you probably know, the famous abolitionist orator lived in Lynn during
the years 1841-1845, when he first lectured around New England.
This
is a first for Lynn, but there have been several of these events around
the state in previous years with great success, and I think you will
enjoy participating in the public reading of Douglass'
magnificent oratory.
Just
think; everyone with a paragraph of the speech to read; A child from
your Program reading next to a City Official, next to a Clergy member,
next to a Neighbor. There will be paragraphs translated into Spanish,
Russian, Khmer, Haitian and more.
I
hope that your Participation or Sponsorship of the event
will encourage you and members of your Organization and the Community it
serves to not only attend, but take on reading a paragraph themselves.
It is easy to participate as an organization –
to collaborate in this event, your group would agree to:
1) Have it's name listed as a Sponsor on the Flyer
2) Send out the Publicity and have at least one person attend the reading
Attached please find a "save the date" flyer.
I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.
Sincerely, Wendy Joseph, Leslie Greenberg, Bob Connolly
Coordinators "Fredrick Douglass in Lynn"
More about Reading Frederick Douglass events:
Reading
Frederick Douglass is an initiative of Mass Humanities, Community
Change, and the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race &
Justice at Harvard Law School.
In the 1852 Fourth of July address, Douglass famously asked,
"Fellow citizens, why am I called upon to speak here to-day?
What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence?
Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak today? What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July?"
“Reading
Frederick Douglass" is a multi-year statewide initiative to mark the
sesquicentennial of the Civil War during the presidency of Barack Obama,
the first African-American President of the United States.
Our
experience is that, in order to happen and be a success, this
event needs participation from a range of public and civic
organizations. Once a variety of people gather in one place, very little
else in the end is needed to make it happen and to make it a civic
success.
We
do this at the Statehouse in Boston, and we have been organizing these
events in various places around the state for a couple of years to great
local acclaim.
Here is a link to a radio report about our Springfield reading in 2010
If
you would like to know more about this event, please explore
the "Reading Frederick Douglass" project Web pages on the
Mass Humanities Website.
Sincerely,
Wendy Joseph
Leslie Greenberg
Bob Connolly
781-842-1480
617-680-1707
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