FREDERICK DOUGLASS TO FRANKLIN B. SANBORN

Washington[,] D.C. 9 Sept[ember] 1879[.]

FRANK B. SANBORN ESQR

MY DEAR SIR:

I regret that my duties here will not permit me to be present at the meetings of the American Social Science Association. This I am sure will be
more my loss than of those who will attend. If the paper I send you on
the Negro Exodus can in any wiht be made serviceable, you are quite at
liberty to use it.¹In the spring of 1879, Douglass entered into the public controversy over the migration of blacks from the South to the prairie states. His criticism of this movement provoked several other prominent black figures to accuse him of being indifferent to the problems of blacks in the post-Reconstruction South. Douglass took the opportunity of an invitation from the annual meeting of the American Social Science Association, scheduled for Saratoga, New York, in September 1879, to prepare a detailed explanation of his position. When Douglass read press reports that the association had converted the occasion of his speech into a debate with one of his critics, Richard T. Greener of Howard University’s law school, he canceled his appearance. Douglass’s original paper was read to the meeting by an old friend, Francis Wayland, after which Greener delivered a defense of the Exodus movement. Douglass’s and Greener’s papers were subsequently published by the journal of the American Social Science Association. Frederick Douglass, “Southern Questions: The Negro Exodus from the Gulf States,” , 11: 1–21 (May 1880); R[ichard] T. Greener, “The Emigration of Colored Citizens from the Southern States,” , 11: 22–35 (May 1880); Painter, , 3–68, 234–61; McFeely, , 299–302. Be good enough to correct any grammatical errors you
may find in it. It was sent in my absence by my clerk. Best wishes for the
success of your meeting.

Very truly yours,

FREDK DOUGLASS

ALS: Alfred W. Anthony Collection, NN. Other text in Borome, “Some Additional Light on
Frederick Douglass,” 219.