Frederick Douglass was born in Talbot County on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and lived there for eleven years enslaved during the first twenty years of his life. His Talbot experience, eloquently documented in his three best-selling autobiographies, became the most powerful slave narrative in American literature. One of the most popular speakers of his time, he traveled constantly advocating for abolition, emancipation and civil rights. His Talbot narrative was his oratory’s driving force.
For five years, Jeff McGuiness worked on a photographic essay of the places in Talbot County where Frederick Douglass lived, worked, and suffered before making his triumphal return later in life. His photobook, Bear Me Into Freedom: The Talbot County of Frederick Douglass, was published by the St. Michaels Museum in October of 2022.
Jeff McGuiness is a photographer and writer fascinated by history, politics, art, and photography. He lives in St. Michaels on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. For the past five years, he has worked on a photographic essay of the place where Frederick Douglass was born and lived for eleven years enslaved—Talbot County, Maryland. His photobook, published in November of 2022 by the St. Michaels Museum, is entitled Bear Me Into Freedom: The Talbot County of Frederick Douglass. We are pleased to have Jeff speak during Black History Month and share his journey in producing this stunning photobook.
Join us for the Talbot Historical Society’s “A Date with History” lecture series featuring Jeff McGuiness
February 1, 2023 at 1 pm
Location: 25 S. Washington Street Easton, MD 21601
Reservations are required and the cost is FREE for THS members and $5 for non-members.
If you have any questions or wish to sign-up please contact the Talbot Historical Society at 410-822-0773 or email [email protected]
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