John Boyle O’Reilly and Frederick Douglass were natural allies in 19th century New England, where they aligned on pressing issues of liberty and justice for all.
In the early part of their lives, both men were fugitives, on the run from their captors as they tried to make their way to freedom. Both became writers and used their considerable skills to advocate for their own people, but also for other groups being denied equal rights and freedoms. And both men were powerful and persuasive orators who spoke truth to power even when it went against the grain of public opinion.
O’Reilly (1844-1890) was an Irish rebel whom the British exiled to a life imprisonment at a penal colony in Australia. He made a daring escape on a New Bedford whaling ship and eventually reached America, where he settled in Boston in January 1870. As editor and later publisher of The Boston Pilot, he used his skills as a writer to advocate for Ireland’s independence, and for the rights of Blacks, Native Americans and other ethnic groups coming to America in the late 19th century.
Douglass (1817-1895) was born into slavery in Maryland and escaped his bondage in 1838, making his way to New York and then New Bedford. His book, An American Slave: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, published in 1845, made him a spokesperson for the abolitionist movement. He wrote for The Liberator, a Boston newspaper published by William Lloyd Garrison and later started a series of newspapers himself, the last being named the New National Era.
Douglass was also heavily influenced by a trip he made to Ireland in 1845-46, in which he witnessed first hand the treatment of the Irish under British rule. He met with Irish liberator Daniel O'Connell, and spent several months touring Ireland and meeting the people.
In a letter to Lloyd Garrison on January 1, 1846, Douglass wrote, "I can truly say, I have spent some of the happiest moments of my life since landing in this country....I gaze around in vain for one who will question my equal humanity, claim me as his slave, or offer me an insult….No delicate nose grows deformed in my presence. I find no difficulty here in obtaining admission into any place of worship, instruction or amusement, on equal terms with people as white as any I ever saw in the United States. I meet nothing to remind me of my complexion. I find myself regarded and treated at every turn with the kindness and deference paid to white people."
Back in America, antagonism between Irish and Blacks occurred frequently in the 19th century, as both competed for low-paying jobs and sought to escape the ‘inferior status’ that had been thrust upon them by their enemies. O’Reilly and Douglass tried in their lifetimes to eliminate that antagonism by bringing the two communities together, across the fields of politics, religion and civic life. Black leaders endorsed Irish leaders such as Charles Stuart Parnell, Ireland's Home Rule advocate, while Boston Irish leaders such as O'Reilly, Hugh O'Brien and Patrick A.Collins advocated for social justice and equal treatment for Blacks.
O'Reilly was the keynote speaker at the Massachusetts Colored League convention at Faneuil Hall in December 1886. And it was O’Reilly, along with Black leader William H. Dupree, Mayor Hugh O'Brien and others, who spearheaded the Boston Massacre monument on Boston Common, unveiled in 1888. Douglass was invited to be the orator at the ceremony, but had to decline due to prior commitments. Instead, O'Reilly read a poem at the unveiling he wrote entitled, "The Boston Massacre," in which he praised Crispus Attucks and the other martyrs.
A month after the memorial unveiling, the Black community invited O’Reilly to recite his poem on December 18, 1888 at the Charles Street Meeting House, a pillar of the city’s Black community in the 19th century, according to his biography written by James Jeffrey Roche.
Before reciting the Attucks poem, O’Reilly spoke to the congregation, “The colored men have their future in their own hands; but they have a harder task before them than they had in 1860. It is easier to break political bonds than the bonds of ignorance and prejudice. The next twenty-five years can bring many reforms, and by proper training our colored fellow-citizens may easily be their own protectors. They must, above all things, establish a brotherhood of race. Make it so strong that its members will be proud of it, proud of living as colored Americans, and desirous of devoting their energy to the advancement of their people.”
O'Reilly and Douglass remained allies until O’Reilly's untimely death on August 10, 1890. Douglass wrote, “I regret very deeply to learn of the sudden death of O’Reilly. He was a man whom I honored.”
O'Reilly Monument in The Fens
The John Boyle O'Reilly Monument, created by sculptor Daniel French, is at the corner of Boylston Street and The Fens, and is part of Boston's Irish Heritage Trail. See a list of more O'Reilly memorials.
Douglass Statue in New Bedford
A monument to Frederick Douglass was unveiled in New Bedford's Abolition Row Park in June, 2023, and is part of New Bedford's Black Heritage Trail. Plans are underway in Boston to place a statue of Frederick Douglass in Roxbury.
On February 14, 2024, a bust of Frederick Douglass was unveiled in the Senate Chamber at the Massachusetts State House.
For more about Boston's Irish history and heritage, visit IrishHeritageTrail.com.
Research + Text, Michael Quinlin
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