The University celebrated Douglass Day Feb. 14 with a transcribe-a-thon of the papers of Anna Julia Cooper, a black feminist leader and author of A Voice from the South by a Black Woman of the South.
Scores of students, staff, and faculty transcribed Cooper’s papers throughout the day and celebrated renowned American orator Frederick Douglass with a slice of gingerbread birthday cake. Westfield State was one of more than 75 institutions celebrating Douglass Day, representing 22 states, Washington, D.C., Ireland, and China.
This is the third year Westfield State has celebrated this event. This year would have been the 202nd birthday of Mr. Douglass, an escaped slave, American abolitionist, orator, and social reform activist, and one of the most eminent human rights leaders of the 19th Century.
Read more about Cooper here and more about Douglass Day here.