Frederick Douglass, a social reformer according to the Episcopal Lectionary Calendar, is celebrated on February 20. Douglass was a Black spokesman for the Abolitionist Movement, editor of the North Star, and adviser to President Lincoln. He was also a slave who learned to read and ran away in order to escape the severe punishment that usually came with this skill when it was discovered in a slave. In the North, he was discovered by the Abolitionists who took him to Britain to speak against slavery. He was a very powerful orator and a key figure in persuading the British to stay out of the American Civil War. When the Civil War began, he encouraged President Lincoln to establish units of African American slaves to fight for their freedom while supporting the North. Lincoln did not develop these units of armed forces, much to Douglass’ disappointment.
