Hopedale History
December 2024
No. 434
Frederick Douglass in Hopedale – 2
Hopedale in December
Hopedale directory for 1893
<><><><><><><><><><>
Twenty-five years ago – December 1999 – After rowing for 81 days and 2,962 nautical miles, Tori Murden becomes the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean by rowboat alone, when she reaches Guadeloupe from the Canary Islands.
Handover of Macau from the Portuguese Republic to the People’s Republic of China after 442 years of Portuguese rule in the settlement.
Fifty years ago – December 1974 The epic crime film The Godfather Part II, director Francis Ford Coppola‘s sequel to his 1972 film The Godfather, received its premiere in New York City.
Jimmy Carter, the Governor of Georgia, announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination in the 1976 United States presidential election
North Vietnam launched the Spring Offensive, fighting against the South Vietnamese Army in the Battle of Phước Long. Within less than five months, South Vietnam would be conquered by the Communist North Vietnamese.
Former New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller was sworn in as the 41st Vice President of the United States shortly after the U.S. House of Representatives voted, 287 to 128, to approve his nomination to fill the position that had been vacant since U.S. President Gerald Ford had taken office on August 9.
One-hundred years ago – December 1924 – In Germany, Adolf Hitler is released from Landsberg Prison after serving nine months for his crucial role in the Beer Hall Putsch of 1923.
American astronomer Edwin Hubble announces that Andromeda, previously believed to be a nebula, is actually another galaxy, and that the Milky Way is only one of many such galaxies in the universe.
News above is from Wikipedia. For Hopedale news from 25, 50 and 100 years ago, see below this text box.
<><><><><><><><><><>
Frederick Douglass’s Second Visit to Hopedale
By Peter Hackett
Undated Milford Daily News article
Frederick Douglass visited Hopedale again in 1845, the occasion being his bringing to the Community a colored girl who was a slave when he was. According to Ballou, on June 28, 1845, the Community voted to allow Rosetta Hall for an indefinite length of time and to work for her board, education, etc.
“Rosetta was a protégé of Frederick Douglass, the two having known each other slaves some years before she appeared in our midst.
“On escaping from the house of bondage, she appealed to him for aid in her forlorn condition. He kindly responded to her appeal and in due time brought her to Hopedale where she would be among friends who would see that no harm came to her, and do all they could to educate her and help her in other possible ways.
“She was made welcome by our people and treated with all due consideration and kindness while she remained with us. She proved herself a girl of most amiable disposition of engaging manners, and of refined nature generally, winning the respect, confidence and love as she won the compassionate pity of all who knew her.
“Her stay with us was comparatively brief and she left with the best wishes of all our people for her future welfare and happiness.”
In introducing the foregoing reference to the colored girl, Rosetta Hall, Ballou put it this way. “An interesting incident illustrative of the times and of the attitude of the Community towards a wronged and outcast race is brought to notice in a vote passed the 28th of June, etc.”
The fact of the Douglass visit to the Hopedale Community first by himself and again with Rosetta Hall, explains the high moral and cultural recognition accorded the Community by the outside world. The Community had become widely known for its hearty espousal of the Anti-Slavery, Temperance and Peace movements.
Other prominent men besides Douglass who at one time or another visited the Hopedale Community were Rev. George Ripley, the noted transcendentalist and Unitarian minister founder of the Roxbury Community, generally known as the Brook Farm Association. Robert Owen, the great Welsh socialist and philanthropist sojourned for two days in November 1845 at the Community.
Ballou refers to the Douglass visits as “an event of great interest to us and of considerable significance to the friends of Social Reform generally.”
Other prominent visitors to the Community
Abolitionism in Hopedale Menu Ezine Menu HOME