Appointment Book

Appointment Book of Frederick Douglass

This particular appointment book of Frederick Douglass reveals much about his daily schedule for the year of 1867 (marked in the upper left corner of the first entry), and also suggests several considerations about his character and behavior in general.

By simply looking at the photograph images of the book’s pages, a lot can be observed about how Douglass scheduled himself and how he managed his time. The planner seems to be organized into two-page increments- the first in series containing dates, places, and sometimes short jottings, and the second containing additional space for lengthier notes.

Perhaps most revealing of his personality is that while the pages containing dates are consistently filled almost entirely with places and events, the supplementary notes pages are completely lacking in information. In fact, many of these pages are left blank.

What this implies about Douglass is that he was able to keep track of the details of his daily schedule and arrangements in his head- which would have been no simple task, given that he travelled for weeks on end with no break.

New questions that could arise from further study of this planner might investigate the nature of this frequent traveling of Douglass and what specifically was accomplished on each trip, as the planner does not specify.

2 thoughts on “Appointment Book

  1. In regards to Doulgass’s planner, he could have kept a seperate planner that he later burned. In his Narrative, he never clearly explained the escape route for the slaves for fear that people would find it an re-capture the slaves. Likewise, he could have kept a seperate journal/planner that he didn’t want any one else to know about, fearing that he could be harmed in some way.

  2. In regards to Doulgass’s planner, he could have kept a seperate planner that he later burned. In his Narrative, he never clearly explained the escape route for the slaves for fear that people would find it an re-capture the slaves. Likewise, he could have kept a seperate journal/planner that he didn’t want any one else to know about, fearing that he could be harmed in some way.

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