The North Star

The North Star. Ed. Frederick Douglass. Rochester, N. Y.: W. C. Nell, 1847-1851. 4 vols.

According to the Library of Congress, "Douglass founded and edited his first antislavery newspaper, The North Star, beginning December 3, 1847. The title referred to the bright star, Polaris, that helped guide those escaping slavery to the North. As Douglass explained in the initial issue: 'To millions, now in our boasted land of liberty, it is the STAR OF HOPE.' Douglass and his family moved from Lynn, Massachusetts, to Rochester, New York, a thriving city on the Erie Canal and one of the last stops on the Underground Railroad before safe haven in Canada. The move also gave him distance from his early mentor, the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, whose newspaper, The Liberator, was published in Boston, and who opposed Douglass' newspaper venture. Initially, his co-editor was black abolitionist Martin R. Delany, who had published his own newspaper, The Mystery, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania until earlier that year. His first publisher was William Cooper Nell, a black abolitionist from Boston. Douglass gained much of the funding to establish The North Star during a lengthy speaking tour of England, Ireland, and Scotland from late August 1845 to early April 1847, which followed the publication of his first autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. British abolitionist Julia Griffiths, whom he met during the tour, moved to Rochester in 1849 and was able to get the newspaper on better financial footing.

In early June 1872, while Douglass was living in Washington, D.C., his Rochester home was destroyed in a devastating fire. All family members living there survived, but most of their belongings were lost, including sixteen volumes of The North Star, Frederick Douglass’ Paper, and Douglass’ Monthly. No complete collection of Douglass’ newspapers is known to exist, but this online collection greatly expands access to Douglass’ three weeklies" (https://www.loc.gov/collections/frederick-douglass-newspapers/about-this-collection/). In 1851, with Vol. IV, The North Star merged with the Liberty Party Paper to become Frederick Douglass’ Paper.

 

 

 

 

 

Last updated on April 27th, 2024

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