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Bust of Frederick Douglass to be unveiled in Mass. Senate Chamber

A bust of the famed abolitionist will be featured permanently.

Abolitionist Frederick Douglass in an early portrait. AP

February 13, 2024

1 minute to read

A bust of Frederick Douglass will be unveiled Wednesday, Feb. 14 — widely regarded as the abolitionist’s birthday — in the Massachusetts Senate Chamber by Senate President Karen Spilka.

The feature will be the first of an African American added to the State House permanently, and the first bust added to the Chamber in more than 125 years.

After escaping slavery in 1838, Douglass settled in New Bedford, which at the time was an abolitionist hub heavily populated by former enslaved people. After moving to Lynn in 1841, Douglass wrote his famed autobiography, “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.”

The bust will go along with a quote by Douglass already painted on the Senate Chamber: “Truth, justice, liberty, and humanity will ultimately prevail.”

It’ll be unveiled at 1 p.m.

According to The Boston Globe, Spilka has plans for a bust of a woman to be unveiled during Women’s History Month in March.