Douglass Day started as a celebration of Frederick Douglass’s writings and activism, but this year the celebration is reframing the celebration as black activism, with a focus on Black women’s activism.

The event will include a viewing of Douglass works from Special Collections, valentine button-making to Black women activists, a transcribe-a-thon of Anna Julia Cooper, a book drive for the Black Women’s Free Library, and a panel discussion with experts of Black women’s activism, including University of Michigan researchers Lydia Kelow-Bennett and SaraEllen Strongman, and Katelyn Rivas, a local poet and community organizer who directs the Free Black Women’s Library — Detroit.

Event schedule:
Welcoming Remarks and a reading from Anna Julia Cooper's A Voice From the South, 1:00-1:30 pm, Hatcher Gallery

When & Where I Enter: the labor, struggle, and joy of Black women's activism panel, 1:30-2:15 pm, Hatcher Gallery

Birthday cake, hot chocolate. and button making, 2:30 pm, Hatcher Gallery

Transcribe-a-thon of Anna Julia Cooper's Papers and viewing of Frederick Douglass Materials from the Special Collections Research Center, 2:30 pm-4:00 pm, Hatcher Gallery Lab

In keeping with the theme, the event will feature a birthday cake from a black woman and U-M alum-owned Detroit bakery, Good Cakes and Bakes.