News Release - City Installs Historic Marker at Last Remaining Home Owned, Occupied by Frederick Douglass in Rochester

 City of Rochester

News Release

(Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020) – The City of Rochester has installed a new historical marker at the site of the only home owned and occupied by Frederick Douglass that is still standing in Rochester, 271 Hamilton St.

“This house is a symbol of freedom and I am proud to know it is still standing in Rochester,” said Mayor Lovely A. Warren. “I want to thank all of the people who made it possible to tell the story of this house, including Ms. Sherri Dukes, the owner of the house; the Office of City Historian Christine Ridarsky; and the William G. Pomeroy Foundation. Thank you for keeping the legacy of Frederick Douglass alive in Rochester.”

The famed abolitionist and orator lived in the Hamilton Street property with his daughter, Rosetta Douglass Sprague, son-in-law, Nathan Sprague, and their family from 1873 to 1874. Though he occupied the house only briefly, Douglass maintained ownership of the building for several decades, which allowed him to continue to vote in federal elections following his relocation from Rochester to Washington, D.C., in 1872.

The historic marker was made possible by a grant from the William G. Pomeroy Foundation, a Syracuse-based grant-making foundation that has funded nearly 1,000 historic roadside markers and plaques nationwide since 2006.

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News Media: For more information, contact Press Officer Jessica Alaimo at 428-7135.