As July Fourth celebrations took place around the Island over the weekend, so did a Vineyard tradition that lifts up the words and legacy of Frederick Douglass, the famed orator, abolitionist and former slave.

Union Chapel will host a discussion Thurdsay with a direct descendant of Frederick Douglass.

For the 20th consecutive year, Renaissance House will host a reading of Frederick Douglass’s 1852 speech What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July on July 4. 

More than 40 volunteers took turns Tuesday morning, reciting sections of the over 10,000 word address that Frederick Douglass first delivered to the Rochester Sewing and Anti-Slavery Society on July 5, 1852.

On the fifth anniversary of the Federated Church’s dedication as part of The African-American Heritage Trail of Martha’s Vineyard, 14 Island residents gathered in the space to recite Frederick Douglass’s speech What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?

Frederick Douglass died over 100 years ago, but his words were very much alive Saturday at the Federated Church in Edgartown.