SALISBURY — A local nonprofit plans to commemorate the day when historical American figure Frederick Douglass made a speech inside the Wicomico County Courthouse with a sign on its grounds.
The Preservation Trust of Wicomico, Inc., a volunteer organization interested in the preservation of historic sites and cemeteries in the county, is raising funds to place a bronze sign with a portrait of Douglass at the top as he looked in 1880 when the speech was made.
“What many people don’t realize is Mr. Douglass spoke at our courthouse in 1880 in order to raise funds for the second floor on what was at the time the John Wesley Episcopal Church,” said Aleta Davis, president of the nonprofit, during a recent Wicomico County Council meeting.
On the evening of February 24, 1880, two years after the construction of the county’s first courthouse, Douglass entered the building’s courtroom, speaking to a mixed audience segregated by an aisle in a speech entitled, “Self-Made Men.” Tickets for the event were sold for fifty cents apiece.
“I believe in individuality, but individuals are, to the mass, like waves to the ocean,” Douglass said in a portion of his speech. “The highest order of genius is as dependent as is the lowest. It, like the loftiest waves of the sea, derives its power and greatness from the grandeur and vastness of the ocean of which it forms a part. We differ as the waves but are one as the sea.”
Douglass, then the Marshall of the District of Columbia, was escorted to the courthouse from the home of his host, Solomon Houston, by the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows. The entourage likely escorted him westerly along Church Street, turning south onto Division Street to the courthouse.
The nearly two-hour speech was made to benefit the expansion of the church’s sanctuary to two floors, then a one-story building. Now the Charles H. Chipman Cultural Center, the historic landmark at 325 Broad Street dates to 1837, when five local freedmen purchased property and constructed a building for use as a church, school and meeting place.
“A couple of years ago, our group started talking about getting this sign done,” Davis said. “We’ve been working on it ever since, calling people, seeing what we had to do to get this sign put into place. Along with this we decided to begin the historic sign project again. And Frederick Douglass’ sign is going to be the first.”
Davis came before the county council because the group needed its support since the courthouse is on county property. A representative of the court also attended the July meeting, saying the court does not typically grant such requests.
“Typically, the court does decline any requests for markets on the courthouse lawn, just because of the need both to be impartial and to appear to be impartial,” Court Administrator Melissa Lahe told the council. “And I understand that this is not intended as a marker that is political as such, but the concern is that we not end up with multiple requests, potentially, that appear to be competing politically for markers on the courthouse sign.
“And again, that is not at all meant to diminish Frederick Douglass’ contributions to American history and to local history.”
Councilwoman Shanie Shields, also the President of the Board of Directors for The Chipman Foundation, said if she had the choice, she would have the marker placed at the cultural center because Douglass came to the county to raise needed funds for the church’s sanctuary.
Lahe said the administrative judge was willing to defer the decision to the county, but with a note that the court would like additional clarification in the future to what rises to the level of historic so there won’t be a flood of requests for markets.
“From my perspective, this is a highly historical event and a man of his stature speaking at the county courthouse. … So, I really don’t believe that there’s going to be a request for multiple markers,” Council President John Cannon said. “I think this is isolated from the fact that he did speak here as an international figurehead of his time. He did speak to a local crowd and actually drew 200 people, which I thought was rather surprising.”
County Council reached a consensus to move the proposed project forward.
“At this point, we haven’t had the chance to get any grants,” Davis said. “We are working on that for the future. We have approached organizations, local citizens and the other historical groups such as our own in order to get some of the money for this. But we are still lacking about $1,000 and we would like to get this done as soon as possible, hopefully before the end of summer.
“I have been assured by Gardner Signs it shouldn’t take that long to get it made, so you could plan for a ribbon cutting and I think it is going to be a big surprise to a lot of people when they see this sign here, having no idea that Frederick Douglass had ever spoken here.”
Reach Managing Editor Richard Caines at rcaines@iniusa.org.
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