Remembering Frederick Douglass

Joined a respectable throng, assembled for the unveiling of a Historic Environment Scotland plaque honouring Frederick Douglass, who stayed here at 33 Gilmore Place in July 1846.  It was the home of the abolitionist Rev. James Robertson, secretary of the short-lived Scottish Anti-Slavery Society, a national body that unsuccessfully sought to bridge the rivalries between the various town- and city-based organisations across the country.

The plaque reads: 'Frederick Douglass, 1818-1895. American author, orator, philosopher, freedom-fighter and statesman lived here 1846. "My part has been to tell the story of the slave".'

I have more than a passing interest in Douglass, with a book on his visit to Scotland due to appear in November.