Helen Pitts

Helen Pitts

Helen Pitts (1838 - 1903) was an American suffragette and the second wife of Frederick Douglass. She also created the Frederick Douglass Memorial and Historical Association.

Early life

She was born in Honeoye, New York. A descendant of John Alden and Priscilla Alden, who sailed to America on the Mayflower, Pitts graduated from Mount Holyoke College (then Mount Holyoke Female Seminary) in 1859. After the Civil War, she taught at the Hampton Institute. In 1880, Helen moved to Uniontown and lived next door to Frederick's home, Cedar Hill.

Abolitionist work

She was active in the women's rights movement and co-edited The Alpha, with Caroline Winslow, in Washington. In 1882, Frederick hired Helen as a clerk in the office of the Recorder of Deeds in Washington, which he had just been assigned to. As he was writing his autobiography, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass and was often lecturing, Helen aided him frequently in his work.

Marriage to Frederick Douglass

Frederick's first wife, Anna Murray Douglass, died on August 4, 1882. Frederick (after a year of depression) married Helen on January 24, 1884. They were married by Rev. Francis J. Grimké who was also of mixed ancestry. Despite the fact that Helen's parents Gideon and Jane Pitts were abolitionists, they were against the marriage as Frederick was the son of a white father and an African American mother. The marriage was generally the subject of scorn by both white and African American residents in the town, though the Douglasses were firm in their convictions. "Love came to me, and I was not afraid to marry the man I loved because of his color," she said. Frederick laughingly commented, "This proves I am impartial. My first wife was the color of my mother and the second, the color of my father." A main source of support was Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Helen and Frederick were married for eleven years until his sudden death from a heart attack in 1895.

Building a memorial to Frederick Douglass

Douglass' will left Cedar Hill to his wife, but it lacked the number of witnesses needed in bequests of real estate and was ruled invalid. Helen suggested to his children and their spouses that they agree to set Cedar Hill apart as a memorial to their father and deed it to a board of trustees. The children declined, insisting that the estate be sold and the money divided among all the heirs.

With borrowed money, Helen bought the place. She then devoted the rest of her life to planning and establishing the Frederick Douglass Memorial and Historical Association. Besides effecting passage of the law incorporating the association, she worked to raise funds to maintain the estate. For eight years she lectured throughout the northeast.

During the last year of her life, Helen was ill and unable to lecture, as well as discouraged by the falling off of contributions for her cause. She begged the Rev. Francis Grimke not to let her work fall by the wayside in her absence. He suggested that, if the mortgage on Cedar Hill should not be paid off in her lifetime, money from the sale of the property should go to two college scholarships in her and Frederick's names. She agreed on the condition that the scholarships be in his name only.

After her death, the $5,500 mortgage was reduced to $4,000, and the National Association of Colored Women, led by Mary B. Talbert of Buffalo, raised funds to buy Cedar Hill. Administered by the National Park Service, the Frederick Douglass Memorial Home conducts tours to inform visitors of Douglass' contributions to freedom.

See also

• First-wave feminism

External links

• Helen Pitts Douglas biography - from the Anna Murray Douglass History of Rochester NY at Mt. Hope Cemetery. Retrieved September 19, 2008.
• The Many Lives of Frederick Douglass Retrieved September 19, 2008.
• Douglas Timeline Retrieved September 19, 2008.
• Photo Gallery Retrieved September 19, 2008.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Grimke, Rev. Francis J., The Second Marriage of Frederick Douglass. Huntington, IN: Herald Press , Nov. 10 and 17, Dec. 1. 8 and 15, 1974 Unfilled manuscript in Williston Memorial Library, Mount Holyoke College
• McFeely, William S. 1991. Frederick Douglass. New York: Norton.
• National Park Service. Frederick Douglass National Historic Site Retrieved September 19, 2008.
• Rochester Regional Library Council. Western New York Suffragists - Frederick Douglass Retrieved September 19, 2008.

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