Institute for American Thought Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis

Finding Frederick Douglass Documents

The goal of the Frederick Douglass Papers project is to select, transcribe and annotate the most relevant Douglass documents for publication. As such, the project collects copies of original documents but is not a preservation facility for those documents. Original Douglass documents are located in libraries, archives, and private collections throughout the United States and overseas. 

Keep in mind a few things in conducting your Frederick Douglass research:

1. The Douglass Papers does not hold original Douglass documents.
2. There is no single repository of all of Frederick Douglass's papers.
3. Papers to, from, or about Douglass may appear in other people's collections, such as the Post Family Papers or the Gerrit Smith Papers.
4. Many Douglass letters can be found in contemporary newspapers.
5. Some collections and most contemporary newspapers are available on microfilm at academic libraries and through interlibrary loan.

This portion of our site is intended to help researchers by:

1. Informing researchers of documents that the project has located.
2. Directing researchers to the location of original documents and newspapers.
3. Informing researchers of documents that the project has published or intends to publish.
4. Directing researcher to web resources related to Frederick Douglass and his era.