| Douglass | |
| Parent Family: | Bailey |
| Country: | United States |
| Etymology: | Douglas |
| Origin: | Cordova, Talbot County, Maryland, US |
| Founded: | 1830s |
| Founder: | Frederick Douglass |
| Estate: | Frederick Douglass National Historic Site Douglass Place |
The Douglass family is a prominent American family originating from Cordova, Maryland, United States. It was founded by the politician and activist Frederick Douglass.
Born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, Frederick Douglass assumed the surname from the poem The Lady of the Lake (1810) by Sir Walter Scott after his escape from slavery to hide from his former master. He did this as a result of the proposal of a friend. As he explains in his first autobiography:
His family would later go on to become a part of the African-American upper class, continuing to provide leadership and intermarrying with descendants of the African-American educationist and political kingmaker Booker T. Washington.[1]