Newly rediscovered history about Frederick Douglass shows that the famed abolitionist and orator made at least two visits to Cambridge, Maryland, and walked right along part of today’s current-day Tubman Byway. The findings were shared during a Sept. 21 presentation in Cambridge by local historian Linda Duyer and author John Muller, who wrote Frederick Douglass in Washington, D.C: The Lion of Anacostia.
In September 1877, Frederick Douglass arrived at the Cambridge steamboat wharf known as Long Wharf (today’s Site #4 on the Tubman Byway). He made his way along High Street to the Cambridge Hotel that once stood near High and Church Streets. Along his way he passed the courthouse (now Site #3 on the byway). He ended up at Bethel Church, where he spoke for two hours to the crowd. Read more in this news story covering the presentation.