Frederick Douglass to Jeremiah Burke SandersonSanderson, Jeremiah Burke

Born into the free black community in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Jeremiah Burke Sanderson (1821–75) became a leader in the antislavery movement during the 1840s. From his barbershop, a popular meeting place for African American men, he sold issues of the Liberator. He also joined the New Bedford Anti-Slavery Society, later becoming its secretary. After a successful lecture tour of the Northeast, he addressed the 1845 meeting of the American Anti-Slavery Society. In 1853 he was appointed to the National Council of the Colored People and attended several black state conventions after moving to California in 1854. He remained active in politics, promoting the causes of black people against Jim Crow laws and of black education in California for the rest of his life. Kathryn Grover, The Fugitive’s Gibraltar: Escaping Slaves and Abolitionism in New Bedford, Massachusetts (Amherst, Mass., 2001), 170, 172–75, 180, 231, 276, 314; Jack Salzman, ed., Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History, 5 vols. (New York, 1996), 5:2385; Ripley, Black Abolitionist Papers, 3:387–88n.

Lynn, Mass.

27 April 1847

My Dear Friend,

Yours of the 23d reached me in due course. I thank you for your kind expressions and regret that it will not be in my power to visit you at Newbedford before the annual meeting. Should you find it conv[en]ient to come to Lynn I shall gladly welcome you, whatever may be the result of our meeting. My family are very well.

I am in great haste very

Sincerely yours

Frederick Douglass