02/08/2022
Very cool fact: Frederick Douglass spoke at the Newtown Theatre in 1864!
“Frederick Douglass spoke here.” That’s long been a claim to fame at the Newtown Theatre, but it’s never been clear when—or even if—Douglass actually spoke here. Well, now we know, and it turns out it was 158 years ago TODAY!
We recently found a 1994 Old Bucks County magazine article written by Terry A. McNealy that talks about Douglass’ time in Bucks County. The article was based on a Bucks County Intelligencer article from February 9, 1864. Here are some of the key passages from McNealy’s magazine article and the newspaper article:
…The noted African American abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglass visited Bucks County in February 1864. He spoke before large crowds in Newtown, Pineville and Penn’s Manor on three successive days and the proceeds went to the Freedmen’s Association, a group organized to provide relief for newly freed slaves.
…Douglass spoke at Newtown Hall [our former name] on Thursday afternoon, February 4, at Pineville Hall on Friday afternoon, and at Penn’s Manor in Falls Township on Saturday afternoon.
…At Newtown, he spoke at considerable length on the re-construction of the Union. He had a crowded house, the lecture being held in the Newtown Hall. An admission fee of 15 cents was charged, and the receipts amounted to upwards of $46.
…Douglass traveled widely through the northern states during the Civil War, encouraging support for the war effort and for President Lincoln, and preparing his audiences for the task of reuniting the nation after the war was over. He came to Bucks County at the invitation of Mahlon B. Linton of Newtown, one of the county’s leading abolitionists, who had often hosted anti-slavery activists when they visited the area.
…Douglass had recently met with President Lincoln in the White House, and he recounted his thoughts on the meeting to his Bucks County audiences. “Some in the audience would probably like to know how the President of the United States received a negro—how a black man was received at the White House,” Douglass was reported to have said. “He received him as one gentleman would receive another—with a friendly grasp of the hand and a hearty welcome. He received him as a man.”
…In his brief tour of Bucks County, Douglass drew large crowds in an area that was already strong in its anti-slavery sentiments. His famed oratorical skills no doubt rallied his audiences to endure the struggles of the war, which was still to continue for more than a year before its conclusion at Appomattox.
