Frederick Douglass (Rochester, New York)

Frederick Douglass (Rochester, New York)

Subject (Topic)
Antislavery movements--United States
Enslaved persons--Emancipation
Freedom
New York (State)--Rochester
Public art
Public sculpture

Subject (Name)
Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895

Subject (Object Type)
Commemorative sculpture

To mark the bicentennial of Frederick Douglass’ birth, the City of Rochester, NY, commissioned Olivia Kim to create thirteen live-size portraits of Douglass in 2018, placing them throughout the city at sites significant to Douglass’s life and work. Kim took inspiration from Stanley W. Edwards’ nineteenth-century statue of Douglass, originally erected in front of the old New York Central Train Station in Rochester, New York. Although the works are fiberglass, Kim recreated the patinated bronze of Edward’s original work.  Like Edward's original work, Douglass’ arms are slightly outstretched, his palms open upward. Kim used the hands of Kenneth B. Morris Jr., the great-great-great-grandson of Douglass, to create the hands of Douglass in her own work.

In 2023, the City of Rochester acquired ten of the statues, which are undergoing repair and restoration. They will be placed in ten new indoor locations. The remaining three statues are in the care of RCTV, Rochester Educational Opportunity Center, and the University of Rochester.

Kim, Olivia, 1979-

Photographs by Renée Ater

July 19, 2018

Rochester Community Media Center (Carven Eison); Rochester Contemporary Art Center (Bleu Cease); Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives; Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Commemoration Committee

City of Rochester, Department of Environmental Services, 30 Church Street, Rochester, New York, 14614, United States

JPEG

English

Visual Arts-Sculpture

School 12: Anna Murray Douglass Academy, 999 South Avenue, Rochester, New York, 14620, United States

The temporary locations of the thirteen Frederick Douglass statues in Rochester, New York in 2018:
School 12: Anna Murray Douglass Academy (999 South Avenue)

Hochstein School of Music and Dance (50 North Plymouth Avenue)  

Talman Building (25 East Main Street). 

42 Favor Street

Central Avenue and St. Paul Street

Corinthian Street at State Street

Alexander Street near East Avenue

Alexander Street and Tracy Street

Kelsey’s Landing in Maplewood Park (89 Maplewood Drive)

Mt. Hope Cemetery

Washington Square Park

Rochester Educational Opportunity Center (161 Chestnut Street)

University of Rochester’s Rush Rhees Library, Rare Books and Special Collections

80.4 in. (204.22 cm)

Fiberglass

Kiley, Rich. "Douglass Monuments Bring History to Life." Rochester Institute of Technology, July 23, 2018. Accessed October 31, 2019. https://www.rit.edu/news/douglass-monuments-bring-history-life.

Bureau of Communications and Special Events, City of Rochester. "Frederick Douglass Statues." Accessed February 20, 2025. https://www.cityofrochester.gov/departments/communciations-and-special-events/frederick-douglass-statues.

Renée Ater

Sculpture

80.4 in. (204.22 cm)