Douglass Day 2026

Event Recap

Thank you for joining us for Douglass Day 2026!

More than 50 participants came together to transcribe minutes, reports, and letters related to the Colored Conventions. We also printed Douglass quotes with a letterpress, made buttons inspired by the Labadie Collection, and heard a great talk from Stephen Ward.

With the contributions from participants across the country, the Zooniverse project is now 100% complete! Check it out on the Zooniverse Website and DouglassDay.org for more.

Check out photos from the event here:

  • Two people sit at a table working on laptops, supplied with drinks and snacks.
    Participants transcribe the Colored Conventions PRoject
  • Two women stand at a high top table. The one on the right hands a puncher and a sheet of button designs.
    Shapiro Design Lab intern Mya Kim helped participants make buttons inspired by Douglass Day and Labadie Collection
  • Two people look at an array of activist pinback buttons on a table. The buttons have slogans such as "Gay Power," God is Love," "Stop the Draft", and "No Justice No Peace."
    The Labadie collection gave away extra historical activist buttons from their collection
  • Tanner worked our letterpress table, allowing participants to print quotes by Frederick Douglass above his portrait.
  • Tanner assists a participant in printing
  • Stephen Ward stands at a podium in front of a projection of a slide that reads "The Mis-Education of the US: Frederick Douglass, the Calling of Black History, and the Next American Revolution, Or, How You Gon Win When You Ain't Right Within (Uh-uh, Come Again)." Also visible on the slides are: a photo of Frederick Douglass, a painted Portrait of Frederick Douglass, Book covers of "Mis-education of the Negro," "Uprooting Racism and Racists in the U.S.A.," and "The Next American Revolution," and the album cover of "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill."
    Stephen Ward closed out the day as our keynote speaker
  • Four chocolate pistachio cupcakes, with a round decoration that reads "All Rights for All"
    We shared delicious cupcakes from Taste Your Dreams bakery!

See you next year!

Event Details

When: February 13th, 2026, 12:00 – 4:00 PM

Where: Hatcher Gallery

What:

You are invited to a birthday party for Frederick Douglass! Although Douglass was born into bondage, and never knew his birthdate, he chose to celebrate every year on February 14th. Join us in the Hatcher Gallery on Friday, February 13 from 12:00pm-4:00pm for a day of transcription, discussion, birthday cake, and celebration of Black History.

This year, we will transcribe documents from the Colored Conventions Project, which chronicles the decades-long history of nineteenth-century Black organizing for civil and human rights. In that spirit, we are theming the University of Michigan event around activism, protest, and political organizing.

In addition to transcribing, we will have a copy of The Autobiography of Frederick Douglass and an issue of the North Star on view from Special Collections. Turn up Turnout will be available to register voters throughout the event.

Keynote: Stephen Ward


The Mis-Education of the US: Frederick Douglass, the Calling of Black History, and the Next American Revolution, Or, How You Gon Win When You Ain’t Right Within (Uh-uh, Come Again)

Steven Ward, wearing glasses and a t-shirt that says "revolution."

Stephen Ward a historian and Black Studies scholar who teaches courses on black social movements and black radical thought, the history of student activism, the transformation of cities and black communities within them, the emergence of grassroots, community-driven visions of urban life, Detroit history, and the history of Hip Hop. He is jointly appointed in the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies (DAAS) and the Residential College, where he serves as Associate Director for Faculty. He is also the Faculty Director of the Semester in Detroit Program. 

A central focus of his scholarship is examining the lives, ideas, activism, and legacies of Detroit-based activists James and Grace Lee Boggs. He is the author of In Love and Struggle: The Revolutionary Lives of James and Grace Lee Boggs (2016), and editor of Pages From a Black Radical’s Notebook: A James Boggs Reader (20121). He is a member of the James and Grace Lee Boggs Center to Nurture Community Leadership in Detroit.

Schedule

12:00m – 4:00 pm – Special Collections pop-up featuring The North Star newspaper and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.

12:00 – 2:00 pm – Transcription

  • Transcribe historical documents from the Colored Conventions Project
  • Light snacks and refreshments

2:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Keynote Address by Dr. Stephen Ward

3:00 – 4:00 pm – Happy Birthday Frederick Douglass! Reception

  • Closing remarks & transcription recap
  • Desserts from local Black-owned bakeries