Elizabeth Cannon, Director of Community-Engaged-Learning, in collaboration with Celebrating the African Spirit and Revive College Hill Park Coalition, secured a Civic Imagination Partnership Grant from Partners for Campus-Community Engagement (PCCE). The Civic Imagination Partnership Grant will support Frederick Douglass Day, an event which continues the tradition of honoring abolitionist Frederick Douglass with a range of activities in Poughkeepsie’s College Hill Park, where Douglass delivered his 1858 anti-slavery speech. Aligned with PCCE’s strategic initiatives, the Civic Imagination Grants support higher ed’s capacity to cultivate civic imagination, deepen community engagement, and strengthen PCCE’s regional communities within New York & Pennsylvania. The Civic Imagination Partnership Grant will help to ensure that Frederick Douglass Day continues to grow as an annual event that honors Frederick Douglass and brings together community members to honor and revitalize the words of Frederick Douglass. The grant will also help to financially support volunteers from the local community who have invested time and energy into both the community convening and the local community itself.

The 2023 Frederick Douglass Day will be the local community’s third annual event. The purpose of the event is to raise the profile of local and national Black history in the run-up to the Civil War, as the country was dealing with the contradiction of constitutional enslavement. Douglass’s 1858 words can bring a greater understanding of the process of racial healing and the fundamental importance of democratic engagement.

Additionally, the celebration of Frederick Douglass Day on the specific site where he spoke puts a spotlight on the importance of College Hill as a public space and park, which has galvanized the City of Poughkeepsie, and potentially others, to make investments in the physical revitalization of the park.