DENVER - The students at Tubman Hilliard Global Academy in Denver are like others across the country who learn about Frederick Douglass. His writings and discussions with President Abraham Lincoln helped end slavery in America. The students also have another connection to the famous abolitionist. They're learning in a building his sons once owned.
Lewis Douglass and Frederick Douglass Jr. fought in the first black regiment in the Civil War.
"They were at some of the bloodiest battles during that time, and one of the sons said he was amazed that he came out alive. Afterwards, they came out west because out west there was opportunity," LaWanna Larson explained.
Larson is executive director of the Black American West Museum in Denver. She says many details about the Douglass brothers' lives in Colorado are lost, but we do know they came here in 1866.
"It took a lot of courage to come out West when you really didn't know what was going to happen. How were you going to be treated once you got out here?" Larson said.
The Douglass brothers opened a restaurant in Denver's Five Points neighborhood, a gold mine in Idaho Springs, and a mortuary in Denver. More than 140 years later that mortuary building is now the Hilliard Academy. It's a fitting change since the Douglass brothers were committed to education. In addition to their other endeavors, they also opened a school for African-American kids and held night classes for adults who were often freed slaves learning how to read and write.
"They also taught them about democracy and what it meant to be a citizen," Larson said.
Lewis Douglass and Frederick Douglass Jr. were among the group of 100 influential black men of their time who appealed to Washington for their rights in the Colorado territory.
"They petitioned for Colorado not to become a state until they allowed all men the right to vote. So they were very instrumental in giving African-Americans the right to vote here." Larson said.
Though not as famous as their father, the Douglass brothers also played a role in changing lives for generations to come.
For more about the Black American West Museum visit www.blackamericanwestmuseum.com.
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