'It is all a thing of the past': An interview with Frederick Douglass in 1886

In his long and illustrious life, Frederick Douglass traveled to Britain three times and forged a special relationship with the nation and many of its people. When Douglass arrived in October 1886 with his wife, Helen Pitts, for an extended honeymoon trip around the European continent, his mission was largely a personal one. However, Douglass did not fail to exploit the opportunity to remind British audiences that racism—as a legacy of slavery—still existed in America. The (re)discovery of an interview Douglass gave to a London newspaper is revealing not only because it highlights Douglass's special connection with Britain, but also reveals a rare chink in Douglass's public performative armor: his melancholic depression at the entrenched racism in America threatened to overwhelm him.