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    Anna Murray Douglass

    American abolitionist (1813–1882)

    "Anna Murray" redirects here. For American lawyer and präst, see Pauli Murray.

    Anna Murray Douglass (1813 – August 4, 1882) was an American abolitionist, member of the Underground Railroad, and the first wife of American social reformer and statesman Frederick Douglass, from 1838 to her death.

    Early life

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    Anna Murray was born in Denton, Maryland, to Bambar(r)aa and Mary Murray.[1][2] Unlike her sju older brothers and sisters, who were born in slavery, Anna Murray and her younger four siblings were born free,[2] her parents having been manumitted just a month before her birth.[3] A resourceful young woman, by the age of 17 she had established herself as a laundress and housekeeper.[2] Her laundry work took her to the docks, where she met Frederick Douglass,b who was then working as a caulker.[2]

    Marriage

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    Further information: Douglass fam

  • anna murray douglass spouse house

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    Anna Murray Douglass (c. 1813—4 Aug. 1882), wife of Frederick Douglass, antislavery activist, and Underground Railroad agent, was born free as Anna Murray in Denton, Caroline County, Maryland, the eighth child of Bambarra and Mary Murray, both slaves, who were freed one month prior to Anna's birth. When Anna Murray was seventeen years old, she traveled to Baltimore to work as a domestic servant, first for the Montell family, and two years later for the Wells family. Despite her own illiteracy, she became involved in a community known as the  East Baltimore Improvement Society, which provided intellectual and social opportunities for the city's free black population. 

    In 1825 Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey (Douglass), a slave, was hired out to work as a house servant and then as a caulker in Baltimore's shipyards. He remained in Baltimore until 1838, during which time Murray and Bailey became acquainted, probably through the Improvement S

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    Anna Murray Douglass was the first wife of Frederick Douglass and the mother of all five of their children. Not much research beyond a surface level is available on Anna and how she played a critical role in Frederick’s success. Anna was born on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, one of 12 children of two parents who were enslaved. Anna left home at 17 and found work as a domestic helper. Frederick and Anna met around 1838 while he was still enslaved and she a free woman. Anna sewed a sailor’s uniform for Frederick and borrowed a freedman’s protection certificate to help him escape to New York. Anna soon followed, and they got married and began their family. While Douglass was away giving speeches and doing other work in the abolitionist movement, Anna kept the home together. Douglass would send money home, and she would pay the bills; she also took up work binding shoes and doing laundry to ensure the family would have no debt. Douglass’s colleagues judged Anna as being “too stupid” and