Despite decades of antipathy between Douglass and the women’s suffragist group leaders – after Douglass had at a critical moment prioritized the vote for African American men over the suffagist push to enfranchise white women, who responded with an openly racist backlash – the abolitionist titan was warmly welcomed at a woman’s suffrage meeting on the last day of his life.
“They applauded him, Douglass told his wife after depositing his cane, getting out of his heavy coat and having a quick bite before heading out again. Susan B. Anthony herself had escorted him to the stage and sat beside him. He stayed for hours, immersing himself in their deliberations, kibitzing strategy for yet another freedom movement.”
Steve Hendrix, The Washington Post, February 18, 2019