Morgan Library is hosting a Frederick Douglass Day celebration, spotlighting the legacy of the “Mother of Black Feminism,” Anna Julia Cooper.

Along with other institutions across the U.S., the CSU Libraries will stream the live broadcast of national speakers and festivities, followed by a local read-a-thon and transcribe-a-thon for Anna Julia Cooper’s writings on Feb. 14 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Born in 1858, Anna Julia Cooper was a contemporary of Frederick Douglass. She is remembered as a visionary black feminist writer, educator, intellectual and activist. She was the fourth African-American woman to earn a doctoral degree. Her most famous work is A Voice From the South by a Black Woman of the South, published in 1892, which centralized the role of black women in civil rights activism.

Open to the community

CSU students, employees, and community members are invited to drop in at the event at any time and read aloud from Anna Julia Cooper’s inspirational writings. There will also be a transcription station, where attendees can transcribe Cooper’s papers through an easy-to-use online transcription platform. Transcriptions will help enhance digital archives of Cooper’s work at the Howard University Libraries and preserve her feminist legacy.

In honor of Frederick Douglass’s 202nd birthday, there will be birthday cake created by a Loveland-based, black-owned bakery, Zetta Marie Patisseries.

Attendees are also encouraged to visit the Morgan Library’s First National Bank Gallery, where there will be an art exhibit featuring black CSU-affiliated artists in recognition of Black History Month.

Since 2017, live broadcasts of Douglass Day celebrations have been hosted by the Colored Conventions Project, an interdisciplinary research hub at the University of Delaware, in order to “promote radical love for Black history… and to create communal spaces for remembering and preserving Black history together.”

The event is presented in coordination with the CSU Libraries Committee for Equity and Inclusion, the Colored Conventions Project, the Anna Julia Cooper Digital Project, Moorland Spingarn Research Center, Princeton Center for Digital Humanities, and the Pennsylvania State University Libraries and College of Liberal Arts.