Organizing Kit 2025

Register

Planning Your Event

Begin your Douglass Day process with these steps and resources.

Step-by-Step Guide

  1. Reserve Your Space
    • Book a room with projector and speakers
    • Ensure Wifi connections
    • Plan for 1 computer per 1-3 people
  2. Create Your Materials
  3. Build Community
  4. Prepare for the Bake Off
  5. Final Preparation

Suggested Materials

  • Room with a projector and speakers to watch the livestream
  • Wifi/Internet connections
  • Computers (1 computer per 1-3 people)

Newsletters

Stay informed about Douglass Day 2025! Upon registration, you’ll automatically receive our newsletter updates. Browse past and present issues →.

Graphics, Flyers and Swag (see all)

Press Release & Media Advisory

Bake Off

How to participate

  1. Bake your cake or dessert
  2. Share photos on Twitter, Instagram, or Bluesky with #DouglassDay
  3. Enter to win special prizes!

View past Bake Off winners! →

Transcribing

Teaching Resources

K-12 Curriculum

An extensive guide to teaching with Douglass Day 2025. It provides resources for elementary, high school, and college classes, including background info, primary source analysis, standards, and activities. An extension activity will allow your students to help transcribe with the Library of Congress.

College Classes

A practical guide for incorporating Douglass Day into college-level classrooms.

Program Schedule

Feb 7 – Preview Event

12:00 to 1:00pm (EST) | Live on YouTube

  • Welcome & introductions
  • Program preview
  • By The People tutorials
  • Q&A Sesssion

Zoom info will be emailed to registered participants.

Feb 14 – Main Event

Broadcast will run from 12-3pm (EST) on YouTube. A direct link to the broadcastwill be posted on the home page at 11:50am.

Transcription will open on Feb 14 at 8am at crowd.loc.gov

12:00 to 12:30pm | Opening Presentations

  • “Lift Every Voice and Sing” (lyrics)
  • Douglass Day program overview
  • Featured Speakers
  • Transcription tutorial
  • Bake Off details

12:30 to 1:00pm | Transcription Activity

  • Time for transcribing, readings, discussions, etc.
  • We’ll leave the live stream running, but will go silent.
  • Try our Spotify playlist!

1:00 to 1:30pm | Singing & Reading

  • Sing “Happy birthday”
  • A dramatic reading of “Why Hold a Colored Convention?” by Hassan El-Amin & introductions

1:30 to 2:00pm | Transcription Activity

  • Time for transcribing, readings, discussions, etc.
  • We’ll leave the live stream running, but will go silent.
  • Try our Spotify playlist!

2:00 to 2:20pm | Community Discussion

  • Details coming soon!

2:20 to 2:45pm | Transcription Activity

  • Time for transcribing, readings, discussions, etc.
  • We’ll leave the live stream running, but will go silent.
  • Try our Spotify playlist!

2:45 to 3:00pm | Closing Announcements

  • Highlights from the day
  • Bake Off prizes
  • Final reflections

Organizing Guides

Community Outreach Guide

This guide provides an extensive set of suggestions for building partnerships with Black community and campus groups for Douglass Day. The guide suggests starting by looking for groups that may already exist on your campus and expanding your outreach beyond campus.

Virtual Event Guide

This guide compiles a list of tips and best practices for hosting a fun virtual or hybrid event on Douglass Day. It includes some past lessons learned about how we can build community in virtual spaces.

About Douglass Day

This page provides a little bit of history about Douglass Day celebrations and the people who make it happen today.

Questions or feedback?

Tips for Transcribe-a-thons

Before: Promote Your Event

Use our Community Outreach Guide

Our handy outreach guide provides an extensive set of practical suggestions for building partnerships with Black community and campus groups for Douglass Day. Douglass Day is a great time to reach out in new directions. Who doesn’t like an invitation to a birthday party? Start local, then expand outwards.

Invite people to your event

Making noise about Douglass Day in your area might mean posting lots on social media, contacting local/student journalists, or even going to community meetings, churches and more. 

Alert the local media

Share Douglass Day with local print, radio, or TV outlets. We are delighted to provide a press release template and media advisory/backgrounder.

Work with your local press office

If your school or organization has a communications office, contact them to share your event. Communications staff can help you plan for outreach on social media, crafting your press release, and much more. Contact them early. Often, communications folks have contacts in local media who might love to cover your event. And perhaps your organization might like to feature Douglass Day on their social media accounts, newsletters, or student papers. 

Order Douglass Day swag

We are currently making arrangements with a vendor for stickers & postcards. We will update you when these are ready to order.

Social media | #DouglassDay

Share what you find or learn on Douglass Day on Bluesky, Twitter, or Instagram using #DouglassDay. We encourage everyone to ask questions, share cool phrases/snippets, or make comments on social media. Our social media team will share any cool finds on the video live stream. We want to hear everyone’s voices! We also love to see great photos of Black history & preservation in action.

Lyrics for “Lift Every Voice and Sing” 

The abridged lyrics are available on this page.

Create a wall of post-it notes:

If you have an in-person room, we suggest creating a “comment board” by placing a stack of post-it notes and some markers in the corner of the room. Ask people at your event to share ideas, feelings, or anything that arises during our day of transcribing. When the wall is full of comments and notes, please snap a photo and share it with us on social media!

Please keep a tally of participation

Please keep a tally of the number of people who participate in your group. After Feb 14, we will write to ask for your feedback. Any info you can provide will help us apply for more resources to support future Douglass Days, so our big thanks in advance.

Douglass Day 2026 + beyond! 

Our annual celebration of Frederick Douglass’s birthday and Black History Month will continue in 2026 and beyond. We will have info about next year’s Douglass Day in Spring/Summer 2025.

Voter Registration

We encourage everyone to register to vote. After that, help your students, neighbors, family members, and colleagues get signed up to vote. (And don’t forget to verify your registration!)

Register here: https://www.usa.gov/voter-registration

Black-owned Bakeries

If you plan to order a cake for Douglass Day, we encourage you to order from a Black-owned bakery. There are many fabulous bakeries around the US along with a number of business that can send a cake or other desserts by mail. We are not affiliated with any of these businesses and welcome any suggestions or feedback.

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