The citymeetings.nyc logo showing a pigeon at a podium with a microphone.

citymeetings.nyc

Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.

PRESENTATION

Historical context and founding of Frederick Douglass Memorial Park

0:43:00

·

57 sec

The Frederick Douglass Memorial Park was founded by Rodney Dade, a Harlem funeral director, to provide a non-discriminatory cemetery for African Americans. Dade collaborated with other professionals to realize this vision.

  • Founded in response to inequities faced by African Americans in other cemeteries
  • Key figures involved: Benjamin Diamond, Frederick A. Bahn, and Adam Clayton Powell Sr.
  • First board of directors included prominent Harlem citizens, funeral directors, and ministers