Frederick Douglass Launched the One Hundred Convention

On July 13-14, 1843, in the Addison County Courthouse, Frederick Douglass and other prominent abolitionists of the New England Anti-Slavery Society launched their six-month 100 Conventions tour to generate anti-slavery sentiment in Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. Middlebury was chosen as the first stop because it was home to Middlebury College and to Congressman William Slade, an anti-slavery campaigner.

The abolitionists were greeted by an intensely bitter and violent crowd, with students denouncing Douglass as an escaped convict. However, as The Vermont Observer reported, “the house was perfectly still” when Douglass spoke, captivated by his story of enslavement.