Frederick Douglass Memorial Park Cemetery, Staten Island, New York (1935)

FREDERICK DOUGLASS MEMORIAL PARK CEMETERY

Today, part of the legacy of Americas runaway captives can still be found on Staten Island on Amboy Road in Oakwood.  There you will find a cemetery with a large plaque at the entrance bearing the likeness of African American abolitionist Frederick Douglass, one of Americas most famous runaway slaves.  The plaque reads:

Frederick Douglass Editor, Orator, Abolitionist, Statesman

Douglass found sanctuary in New York from fugitive slave hunters after his escape from slavery in 1838, and spent the rest of his life fighting for the end of slavery, and for civil rights for African Americans and women.  Because of racial segregation even in our nations cemeteries, Frederick Douglass Memorial Park was built in 1935 to serve as a cemetery for African Americans.  Today the cemetery is open to all races, and many famous and influential African Americans are buried there.

SOURCE:  STATEN ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 2000