Virginia Hewlett Douglass

Virginia Hewlett Douglass (June 1, 1849 – December 14, 1889), also known as Virginia Lewis Molyneaux Hewlett Douglass was an African-American suffragist.[1] She had been married to Frederick Douglass, Jr.[2]

Virginia Hewlett Douglass
Virginia L. Molyneaux Hewlett Douglass, c. 1869. Photographed by G.H. Loomis, Boston
Born(1849-06-01)June 1, 1849
Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedDecember 14, 1889(1889-12-14) (aged 40)
United States
SpouseFrederick Douglass, Jr.
Children7
Parent

Biography

Virginia Lewis Molyneaux Hewlett was born June 1, 1849, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[3][4] She was the daughter of the first African-American instructor at Harvard University (from 1859 to c. 1871), Aaron Molyneaux Hewlett and physical education instructor, Virginia Josephine Lewis Molyneaux Hewlett (c.1821–1882).[5][4]

On August 4, 1869, Virginia Hewlett Douglass married Frederick Douglass, Jr. in Cambridge.[6][4][7] Together they had seven children, Fredrick Aaron Douglass (1870–1886), Virginia Anna Douglass (1871–1872), Lewis Emmanuel Douglass (c.1874–1875), Maud Ardell Douglass (1877–1877), Gertrude Pearl Douglass (1883–1887), Robert Smalls Douglass (1886–1910), Charles Paul Douglass (1879–1895).[4] When her sister-in-law Mary Elizabeth Murphy (married to Charles Remond Douglass) died in 1879, Virginia and Fredrick raised their two minor children Charles Frederick and Joseph Henry.

In 1877, a petition for women's suffrage support by the District of Columbia African-American community was created and signed by Virginia Hewlett Douglass, Frederick Douglass, Jr., Nathan Sprague, and Rosetta Douglass Sprague.[8][9] The petition had been part of a movement organized by National Woman Suffrage Association.[9]

On September 21, 1881, Douglass wrote a letter to the editor of the Washington Sunday Item newspaper against school segregation and prejudice.[4]

She died on December 14, 1889, at the age of 41, and her death was listed as from consumption.[10][11][12] She was buried in Graceland Cemetery[10] and later moved to Woodlawn Cemetery in Washington, D.C. After her death, her brother Emanuel D. Molyneaux Hewlett took custody of her two minor children, Charles Paul and Robert Smalls.[12]

References
  1. "Virginia Hewlett Douglass". Alexander Street Documents. Retrieved 2020-11-28.
  2. "These Photo Albums Offer a Rare Glimpse of 19th-Century Boston's Black Community". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2020-11-28.
  3. Fought, Leigh (2017). Women in the World of Frederick Douglass. Oxford University Press. p. 310. ISBN 9780199782611.
  4. Bernier, Celeste-Marie (2018-07-31). If I Survive: Frederick Douglass and Family in the Walter O. Evans Collection. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 26–28, 49, 629. ISBN 978-1-4744-3973-2.
  5. "General information about Aaron Molyneaux Hewlett and Madam Molyneaux Hewlett, 1861-". Hollis, Harvard University. Retrieved 2020-11-28.
  6. "Untitled". Evening Gazette. August 12, 1869 – via Alexander Street, Proquest.
  7. Gregory, James Monroe (1893). Frederick Douglass the Orator: Containing an Account of His Life; His Eminent Public Services; His Brilliant Career as Orator; Selections from His Speeches and Writings. Willey & Company. p. 200. ISBN 978-0-7950-1414-7.
  8. "Documented Rights Image Detail: Petition for Woman Suffrage Transcript". Archives.gov. Retrieved 2020-11-28.
  9. "Petition for Woman Suffrage from Frederick Douglass Jr. and Other Residents of the District of Columbia". DocsTeach. Retrieved 2020-11-28.
  10. "Mortuary Matters". Newspapers.com. Democrat and Chronicle. 22 December 1889. p. 2. Retrieved 2020-11-28.
  11. "Obituary". Leader newspaper, Washington DC. December 21, 1889. p. 2.
  12. Blight, David W. (2018-10-16). Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom. Simon and Schuster. p. 678. ISBN 978-1-4165-9388-1.
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