For one of their first assignments, students in the American studies course “Black and Brown Jacobins” read a digital copy of a speech considered to be one of the most important in U.S. history: Frederick Douglass’ “What to the American Slave is the 4th of July?” Days later, during a visit to the Chapin Library of Rare Books, they had the chance to see up close a rare pamphlet of the speech, printed by Douglass in 1852.

After an in-depth discussion of the content of the speech—in which Douglass used the context of Independence Day to criticize the chasm between America’s founding principles and the institution of slavery—the dozen students gathered around a table at the center of the instruction room on the fourth floor of Sawyer Library to view the pamphlet. Community engagement archivist Julia Rossi asked them what they noticed about the unassuming document.

“The title is ‘Oration,’” said one student, with surprise. “‘Delivered in Corinthian Hall, Rochester by Frederick Douglass, July 5th, 1852.’”

“It says ‘Published by request,’” said another.

The students also noted its small size, 5×8 inches, and that it was 40 pages long. These and other observations led to a conversation about how much could be learned studying the materiality of an object, the context in which it was made, and the life it had beyond its original purpose.

Rossi explained how, a few years after Douglass delivered what he called “Oration,” the speech came to be known by a line in it: “What to the American Slave is your 4th of July?” (“Your” was changed over time to “the.”) She asked the students to consider the meaning of the date July 5, the day after Independence Day, when Douglass spoke to 500 or 600 people by invitation of the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Sewing Society. The notation “by request” on the pamphlet reflects that the society’s president asked Douglass to print 100 copies, and an advertisement in Frederick Douglass’ Paper offered a single reprint for 10 cents or 100 for $6. Ultimately, 700 copies were printed, with proceeds funding Douglass’ abolitionist newspaper, Rossi said.

Two issues of that newspaper flanked the pamphlet on the table. Surrounding the table, around the periphery of the room, were copies of books by and about Frederick Douglass from the personal library of Sterling Brown, Class of 1922, part of the library’s extensive collection including Brown’s books, poems, and correspondence. As Rossi turned the pages of the newspapers, and students thumbed through Brown’s books, discussing the notes he had made in the margins, the class developed a deeper understanding of and context for the speech they had read online.

Acquired in 2023 from an antiquarian bookseller, the pamphlet is “exceptionally rare on the market,” says Chapin Librarian Anne Peale. “This was the first copy the bookseller was aware of having been available in the past two decades.”

It was purchased with support from the Class of 1940 Americana Fund, with the intent of strengthening and promoting the Chapin’s Americana collections. Classmates created the fund in celebration of their 50th reunion, after raising funds to help purchase a copy of the Declaration of Independence for the library in 1983.

The pamphlet and related books and newspapers the students explored in class are the centerpiece of a celebration of Douglass in the fourth-floor instruction room from 2 to 3 p.m. on Feb. 14, the day he chose as his birthday. Short lectures, including one by Neil Roberts, associate dean of the faculty and professor of Africana studies, tea, birthday cake, and a performance of “Happy Birthday” by the Williams Gospel Choir are planned.

Read more about Douglass’ speech, and watch a video of his descendants reading his speech for National Public Radio, on the National Museum of African American History & Culture’s website.