Marcus Herron (7th grade)
The middle school children of Ile Omode went on a hard earned trip to Washington, DC. They saw many important and historic sites. One site was Frederick Douglass’ house. That was one experience no one could forget.
The house was huge, taking up most of what was called Sutter’s Hill. What was next to it was Frederick Douglass’ work shop made by hand. The way it was structured, it looked like it was made from hand, but it looked good. What made this experience unforgettable was the inside of the house.
Mr. Douglass’ house started out with 15 rooms. He needed more space so he added on about 6 more. The one thing these students were surprised about was that he got his refrigerator from Sears, what we have today and it didn’t seem like they had Sears back in those days. The students didn’t know at first, but the house didn’t have running water. All they had was a sink to wash things with from water from outside.
Frederick Douglass actually had each room for a specific purpose. For example, there was a boy’s room and a girl’s room for guests. Another special person that lived in the house was his second wife Evelyn. So, in that house Anna, his first wife, was not mentioned much because it was too painful for Douglass to talk about her. Rooms were unisex meaning boys and girls were not in the same room so there were a lot of rooms. This house was so great that many students would like to go again.
There was also a whole other part to this architecture. Some rooms were built just for family or guests. Mr. Douglass added about three rooms and one door just for family. His wife Anna became sick and died. That was why Mr. Douglass could not talk about her. In Anna’s room there was an added door. It was added for a nurse to check on Anna in the middle of the night. After Anna, he married Evelyn, who was white. Douglass’ children did not approve, but Frederick Douglass did not care of race.
Anna liked sewing and had a sewing machine in her room. Her room was added on because Frederick Douglass didn’t want anyone using Anna’s room. The room was pretty much sacred. After a while no one went into that room and so it was cut off. Douglass really loved his grandchildren. So, upstairs he had a play room for them. He also had two other rooms for his children who visited. There was a boy’s room and there was a girl’s room. These rooms weren’t used a lot because his children were adults. His children pretty much had their own
The room downstairs was specifically used for entertainment. Frederick Douglass played the piano and the violin. A lot of people came to Frederick Douglass’ house. So he entertained them. He did this by talking or playing his instruments.
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About the Author
My name is Marcus Herron. I am in the 7th grade and I'm 12 years old . I like to be very active, and that's why I like sports. I skateboard, play basketball and football, and alot more. In the future I want to have a job that I enjoy. That job is working with electronics. The college for that is MIT. It is a really good college and it will take a lot of work to get there.
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