The Champaign County African American Heritage Trail has over 30 locations highlighting African American history in our community. To celebrate Juneteenth, we wanted to highlight a specific location on that trail, One Main Plaza in Champaign, the site of Fredrick Douglass’ visit to Champaign on February 15, 1869.
Four years after the end of the Civil War, Fredrick Douglass visited Champaign to deliver his speech “Self-Made Men,” his reflections on American individualism and what it means to be a “self-made man.”
As covered by the Champaign County Gazette and Union, “No man has ever yet addressed an audience in this city and received the marked attention that did Mr. Douglass. He handled his subject most skillfully and impressed his audience with the points of his arguments in the most happy manner…His wit was keen and sparkling, his humor dry and effective, and his logic and argument as clear as that of the most polished orator in the land.”
Fredrick Douglass remains special in the hearts and minds of the community members of Champaign, having three additional stops on the African American Heritage Trail named after him. The Champaign Public Library Douglass Branch, Champaign Park District Douglass Center, and Douglass Park are all named after the late civil rights activist and abolitionist.
You can learn more about the Champaign County African American Heritage Trail and visit more historical locations throughout Champaign County by visiting https://ccafricanamericanheritage.org/.