Public Relations & Marketing

Douglass Day Celebration to be held at HCC

Hagerstown Community College will hold a Douglass Day Celebration on Tuesday, February 14, from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., in the Learning Resource Center, room 102.

Guests are invited to participate in a transcribe-a-thon, focused on the papers of Mary Ann Shadd Cary. Locations nationwide will hold simultaneous transcribe-a-thons to contribute to this year’s crowdsourcing project called “Transcribe Shadd Cary.” The main activity will be transcribing the words in a variety of documents (letters, diaries, certificates and postcards) to make them more accessible for researchers.

The celebration will feature a presentation from Maryland historian John Muller, with information about Frederick Douglass’s connection to Hagerstown, as well as Mary Ann Shadd Cary. Muller has presented widely throughout the DC-Baltimore metropolitan area at venues including the Library of Congress, Newseum, Politics and Prose, American Library in Paris, and local universities. He is currently working on a book about the lost history of Frederick Douglass on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

Prior to the event at HCC, Muller will host a walking tour from 9 to 10:30 a.m., in downtown Hagerstown, starting at the Hagerstown Visitor Center. For tickets, visit https://tinyurl.com/FDinHagerstown.

A live broadcast from www.douglassday.org, featuring speakers, performances, and a birthday cake baking contest, will be available from 12 to 3 p.m., via YouTube.

This event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. To register online, visit https://bit.ly/hcc-dd23.

(January 25, 2023)