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A newspaper illustration entitled, "Negro expulsion from railway car, Philadelphia" from September 27, 1856
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Frederick Douglass--Abolitionist Leader
In addition to publishing The North Star, Douglass lectured on the subject of freedom. Even though he had made a name for himself and was a successful leader in the abolitionist movement, he was still subject to laws keeping blacks separate from whites. On one occasion, he took the train to speak in a Southern city. During the journey, he was forced to sit in the section reserved for "colored" people at the end of the freight car. When his hosts met him at the other end, they were very apologetic that he had been humiliated and made to sit in the back of the car. His response was: "Gentlemen, by ignoble actions I may degrade myself, but nothing and no man can degrade Frederick Douglass."
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