We are running a series of posts this week in honor of the anniversary of
the 1880 Emancipation Day celebration in Elmira, which was highlighted by a
speech from Frederick Douglass that Twain (possibly) attended.

Foremost, we have reconstructed the speech itself from a combination of
Douglass's manuscript at Library of Congress and newspaper transcriptions
which were likely based on the missing portion of that manuscript. You can
view all the documents yourself, as well as read the speech, at
MarkTwainStudies.com/LessonsOfEmancipation

With help from numerous colleagues, including Bob Hirst of MTP and Mallory
Howard of MTH&M, I have also compiled much of what we do (and do not) know
about the Douglass-Twain relationship. This is a pretty common question we
get from scholars and teachers, so I wanted to put all the evidence in one
place. I do this partially under the guise of answering the question, "Was
Twain there in 1880?" But the post draws upon documentation of their
relationship from 1869 to 1884: MarkTwainStudies.com/FredDouglassMarkTwain

We will also be sharing some additional resources later in the week,
including a podcast episode with Jill Spivey Caddell and Shirley Samuels,
the recording of Dr. Caddell's recent Park Church Lecture on John W. Jones,
and an overview of the newspaper coverage of the Emancipation Day
celebrations.

We hope you'll find these, and all the resources at MarkTwainStudies.org,
useful!

*Matt Seybold, PhD*
Associate Professor of American Literature & Mark Twain Studies
Scholar-in-Residence, Center for Mark Twain Studies
Editor, MarkTwainStudies.org
Host, The American Vandal Podcast
<https://marktwainstudies.com/the-american-vandal-podcast/>

Peterson Chapel Vestry, Cowles Hall
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MattSeybold.com
<https://www.elmira.edu/>