Frederick Douglass
Date1910
Artist
Isaac Scott Hathaway
(American sculptor, ceramics artist, and educator, 1872–1967)
MediumPainted and molded plaster
Dimensions11 1/2 × 6 1/2 × 5 in. (29.2 × 16.5 × 12.7 cm)
Credit LineAcquisition Fund, 2019
Object number2019-33
On View
On viewClassificationsSCULPTURE
Label TextOn a visit to a museum as a boy, Hathaway was surprised and disappointed not to find a sculpture of his hero, Frederick Douglass. His father explained that there were not enough African American artists to make such works. Hathaway helped to change that. After college and art school he founded the National Afro-Art Company to produce and sell plaster busts--like this one--based on his sculptures of notable African Americans.
