Douglass Day 2025 at Penn State Campuses

About Douglass Day

Every Valentine’s Day, we invite you to a birthday party for Frederick Douglass. Although Douglass never knew his birthdate, he chose to celebrate every year on February 14th. We celebrate this date as a moment for creating Black history together. Douglass Day is presented by a handful of collaborating organizations, and hosted by the Center for Black Digital Research.

This year, in partnership with the Library of Congress, we feature the African American Perspectives Collection. Transcribing activities will happen on the Library of Congress’s By the People platform. Links will be available on February 14.

How can I get involved?

  1. Host an event of your own (see our organizing kit for lots of resources)
  2. Join an event at one of the Penn State campuses (see below)
  3. Bring Douglass Day to your class (see our teaching page)
  4. Join us online from wherever you are

Penn State Campus Events

All events taking place 12-3PM unless otherwise listed.

Don’t see your campus? Email Racine Amos (rla5306@psu.edu) with the location and time of your event and the number of approx. attendees. Also register with DouglassDay.org to ensure you receive orientation materials, newsletter updates about the national broadcast, and are listed as a partner location. On February 14th, you can stream the broadcast on YouTube into your library or classroom.

Abington

  • Location: Abington Campus Library
  • Contact: Brendan Johnson

Altoona

  • Location: Robert E. Eiche Library
  • Contact: Jacob Gordon

Berks

  • Location: Thun Library
  • Contact: Melissa Millar

Brandywine

  • Location: John D. Vairo Building
  • Contact: Teresa Slobuski

Fayette

    Greater Allegheny

    • Location: J. Clarence Kelly Library
    • Contact: Andrew Marshall

    Harrisburg

    Hazelton

    • Location: Mary M. and Bertil E. Lofstrom Library
    • Contact: Erik Angel

    Hershey College of Medicine

    • Location: Harrell Health Sciences Library Tech Sandbox
    • Contact: Eliza Donne

    University Park

    Want to join on a later time or day?

    No problem! We have plenty of transcribing work to go around. The crowdsourcing project, the livestream video, and all of our materials will be available online starting on February 14th. (The crowdsourcing website will go live at 9 am EST). Everything will remain online until we’re done with all of the transcribing. It’s difficult to predict when that will be, so we will ask your group leader to check the site the night prior to your later meetings. If you aren’t sure, please email the Douglass Day team at douglassdayorg AT gmail DOT com.

    Annual Douglass Day Bake Off

    Photo of a birthday cake being cut. The birthday cake has a small image of Frederick Douglass on top.

    This year we are delighted to continue the new tradition of our annual cake contest. Make your best cakes and desserts to celebrate Douglass. Post photos of your creations using the hashtag #DouglassDay on Bluesky and Instagram to enter our contest!

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