Frederick Douglass & the Massachusetts 54th: Community Day at Meigs Park |

Описание: This opening program of #DouglassWeek 2025 honors Frederick Douglass, his sons Lewis and Charles, and their Civil War service. At this event, Douglass descendants came together with the community at the Camp Meigs site, the place where their ancestor Charles Remond Douglass began his Civil War service and where he trained alongside his brother Lewis Henry Douglass. Massachusetts Poet Laureate Regie Gibson, representatives of Mass Humanities, Representative Rob Consalvo, Senator Michael Rush, Síghle FitzGerald, Consul General of Ireland in Boston, 54th Massachusetts reenactors, Hyde Park community leaders and others helped commemorate the connection between the Douglass family and Camp Meigs.

Camp Meigs, and the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment and the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry, play a significant part in the Douglass family’s history in the Commonwealth. Frederick Douglass saw the Civil War as a fight over slavery and encouraged President Lincoln to recruit Black men to the Union Army. Two of Douglass’ three sons, Lewis Henry Douglass and Charles Remond Douglass, were recruited into the Union Army by their father, trained at Camp Meigs, and served in the 54th (with Charles eventually transferring to the 5th Cavalry). Due to illness, Charles was not able to deploy in the field with the 54th and so remained on site in garrison at Camp Meigs for 11 months in 1863-64. The members of the Douglass family who will participate in the September 28th event are descended from Charles Douglass.