Matt,

Of course, I should have realized that, at least you,   were aware that 
Twain was in Elmira at the time of Douglas's speech.  I didn't have time 
now to read your entire post on the CMTS website.   I can't imagine how 
many hours you spent to compile all of that !

Great job even though you were unable to solve/answer the question of 
Twain's presence at the actual event.



On 8/2/2021 1:38 PM, Matthew Seybold wrote:
> 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
> [log in to unmask]
> MattSeybold.com
> <https://www.elmira.edu/>