In this edition of North by North-East, Ben and Glen uncover the remarkable tale of how two Tyneside sisters-in-law, Ellen and Anna Richardson, helped one of the most famous Americans of their age secure his freedom.
We trace a story that spans both sides of the Atlantic, uncovering more about the life of Frederick Douglass, the fight for the abolition of slavery, and the role of Quakerism in shaping the Richardsons’ lives.
Join us on a journey that reveals the very worst and the very best of humanity, all connecting to Newcastle and its place in this extraordinary history.
Useful resources:
- INSIGHTS Revisited: British Women in the Liberation of Frederick Douglass by Professor Leigh Fought (video)
- Frederick Douglass in Britain and Ireland interactive map
- A Historical Sketch of the Society of Friends in Newcastle and Gateshead, 1653-1898, by J.W. Steel, with contributions from other Friends
- The Frederick Douglass Papers Digital Edition
- Frederick Douglass Papers at the Library of Congress
- The American Fugitive in Europe: Sketches of Places and People Abroad, by William Wells Brown
- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, by Frederick Douglass (1845)
- My Bondage and My Freedom, by Frederick Douglass (1855)
- Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, by Frederick Douglass (1881)
- Martin Luther King: In Newcastle Upon Tyne: The African American Freedom Struggle and Race Relations in the North East of England, by Brian Ward (2017)
- Women in the World of Frederick Douglass, by Leigh Fought (2017)
