Frederick Douglass was born into slavery 200 years ago in February 1818. After his escape to freedom, he became a prominent abolitionist author and reformer. The community of Chapel Hill honored his life and his impact on society during this year’s Black History Month.
Separated from his mother as an infant, Douglass escaped from slavery at age 20 and made his way from Maryland to New York and Massachusetts, launching his career as an orator and newspaper editor. Douglass wrote three autobiographies that were widely published in the United States and Europe. His voice was in the ear of President Abraham Lincoln, and he served as a statesman with other administrations. Until his death in 1895, Douglass fought for civil rights and equality for all people.
On January 25 this year at the United Church of Chapel Hill, puppeteer Tarish Pipkins, professionally known as Jeghetto, unveiled a puppet of Douglass, part of his half-hour multimedia performance about Douglass’s experience in slavery. While working on the project, Pipkins felt “pride to have someone live through that institution and live to tell about it—and to become an abolitionist and activist.”
The puppet’s face is a clay sculpture, its body made of cardboard and wood, and Pipkins chose denim (cotton) hair to physically represent the institution of slavery. Most of the four weeks he spent developing the performance was dedicated to the multimedia presentation. It was the first Pipkins had made about a historical figure, and his research to understand Douglass’s life felt traumatizing. “I really connected with him as a person—what he went through,” he said.
Mary D. Williams also sang at the event, held at the church on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. “She’s an amazing gospel singer,” Pipkins said. “It was an honor to share the stage with her.”
In February, Pipkins brought the presentation to the Chapel Hill Public Library, which commissioned the project, and to the Saxapahaw Culture Mill and local schools; he hopes to perform at the Carrboro Branch Library and the ArtsCenter.
Douglass’s masterful autobiographies have been discussed at several events in the Chapel Hill area. On March 20, Flyleaf Books will host a discussion of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, led by NC Central history professor Tony Frazier.
