Frederick Douglass National Historic Site: Cultural Landscape Inventory

NPS National Capital Regional Office; Moss, Saylor

Frederick Douglass was an African American abolitionist, publisher, orator, author, statesman, reformer, and champion of human rights who is generally recognized as the father of the Civil Rights Movement. The Frederick Douglass National Historic Site is an 8.07-acre site located in the Anacostia Historic District of Washington, D.C. The property is located above the shore of the Anacostia River. The National Park Service acquired the Frederick Douglass property in 1962. The property was officially designated the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site in 1988, and its period of significance is 1877-1895, the period of Douglass' occupancy. The site preserves the landscape and home of Frederick Douglass. Between 1855 and 1859, a brick structure, the original part of the Douglass house, was built and inhabited by John W. Van Hook. Van Hook was forced to sell his property in 1873 after a financial panic resulted in the failure of the Union Land Company. In 1877, in defiance of laws prohibiting the purchase of property in the area by African Americans, Douglass bought the 9.5-acre holding from Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company. Then in 1878, Douglass purchased an additional 5.23 acres and proceeded to construct a cistern, well, carriage house, barn, privy, chicken coop, corn crib, and living quarters for guests or workers. Douglass improved outdoor walkways and stairs and planted trees, shrubs, and edibles. After the death of his first wife in August of 1882, Douglass married Helen Pitts, a Caucasian woman. Eleven years later, on February 20, 1895, Douglass died of stroke at Cedar Hill. In 1900, at Helen Pitts Douglass's request, Congress chartered the Frederick Douglass Memorial and Historical Association (FDMHA), to whom Mrs. Douglass bequeathed the house. In 1916 the FDMHA appealed to the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs (NACWC) for assistance in preserving the Douglass home. The NACWC agreed to help and the mortgage was paid off by 1918. Restoration of the home began in September of 1921, and a dedication of the “Frederick Douglass Memorial Home” was held on August 12, 1922. Due to a lack of funding, the house and landscape deteriorated over time and proved to be too large a burden for the NACWC to shoulder. In an attempt to decrease maintenance costs, the NACWC sold portions of the property to developers. After increasing preservation needs, and the devastation to the property caused by 1956’s Hurricane Hazel, the association entrusted the site to the federal government. The property was added the National Park system on September 5, 1962, and was designated the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site on February 12, 1988. The historic site displays the seven aspects that determine integrity as defined by the National Register of Historic Places through the retention of landscape characteristics and features. These landscape characteristics are natural systems and features, spatial organization and topography, land use, circulation, vegetation, buildings and structures, and views. The landscape at the Frederick Douglass NHS is in good condition. It retains integrity for the period of significance (1877-1895). The most pressing issue on-site may have to do with stormwater management, and the erosion of the grassy terraces.

Frederick Douglass National Historic Site: Cultural Landscape Inventory

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