Frederick Douglass: For the Great Family of Man

by Peter D. Burchard

In a swift and compelling narrative, acclaimed historian Peter Burchard tells the story of the greatest black American of the nineteenth century, a pioneer who laid down a firm foundation for all men and women who came after him.

As a child and as a youth, Frederick Douglass was enslaved, but his intelligence, his resilient character, and his innate charm, together with a measure of good fortune, helped him survive. He became a forceful speaker and persuasive writer and conducted a campaign to abolish slavery and secure civil rights for his people and for all Americans. He saw himself as a soldier in a battle for the dignity of the “great family of man.”

This new biography presents Douglass as he lived through the misery, tragedy, and heartbreak of his early years, as he escaped from slavery only to endure anxiety and outrage in the free states of the North. He eventually made his way to Great Britain, where he lectured forcefully against slavery.

In the United States, as the Civil War began, Douglass recruited young black men to fight and die for their freedom and the freedom of their brothers held in bondage in the South. He became a friend and counselor to presidents, senators, and governors.

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Peter Burchard was the author of 26 books, nonfiction and fiction, adult and juvenile and the illustrator of more than 100 books.
His biography "One Gallant Rush: Robert Gould Shaw and His Brave Black Regiment" (1965), became the main source of historical material for "Glory," the Academy Award-winning film featuring Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman and Matthew Broderick, who portrayed Col. Shaw, commander of the first black regiment in the Civil War.
His first published illustrations appeared in Yank, a magazine published by the Army, in which he served as a signal operator during World War II on troop ships between the United States and France, Egypt and the North Atlantic. He began illustrating books in 1947, the year of his graduation from the Philadelphia Museum College of Art.
Beginning with "The River Queen" (Coward McCann, 1957), a riverboat story, Burchard wrote several self-illustrated books for children. His short novel, "Jed" (1960), the story of a friendship between a 16-year-old Yankee soldier and a Southern boy, had 14 printings in the United States and was published in several languages, including Arabic.
He received a Christopher Award for the humanitarian value of his illustrations for Bulla's "Pocahontas and the Strangers." In 1966, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for the Shaw biography.
Other subjects of his books are sailing, the history of flight, World War II and New York City during the Boss Tweed era. His most recent book was "Frederick Douglass: For the Great Family of Man" (Simon and Schuster, 2003), a Parents' Choice honor book.
He was a member of the international PEN Club and, up to the time of his death, served on the panel of advisers for the George Polk Awards. His final work, a fictionalized autobiographical story of a young serviceman's first love affair in New York City, is "Paper Shoes."

http://www.iberkshires.com/story/1481...

Reviews

[Thompson]

This biography provides an okay overview. The writing is at middle school to high school level.

[Krystie Herndon]

I'd say, that biography was pretty well-done, and a true boon to anyone, middle school and up, who wants to understand a bit more about this complicated, and fascinating, historical figure.

[Bryn]

2.5 stars