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Primary sourcePaintingc. 1884

Racist Cartoon Attacking Frederick Douglass's Marriage to Helen Pitts

Meyer Merkel & Ottmann · c. 1884

A racist 1884 cartoon mocking Frederick Douglass and his white wife Helen Pitts, showing the hostility their interracial marriage provoked.

This racist cartoon targets Douglass directly, showing the hostility his marriage to Helen Pitts provoked.

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Lithograph cartoon of a pharmacy storefront with a well-dressed elderly man in a top hat and a woman in a bustled dress walking past, a cat sitting by the door, two boys and a spotted dog watching. Caption text below contains racist dialect.
Racist cartoon attacking Frederick Douglass's marriage to Helen Pitts, Meyer Merkel & Ottmann, c. 1884.

About this source

What it is

This is a lithograph cartoon from around 1884, created by Meyer Merkel & Ottmann, that mocks Frederick Douglass and his wife Helen Pitts. It uses racist caricature and dialect to attack their marriage, which was interracial.

Why it matters

Douglass's second marriage, to the white suffragist Helen Pitts, caused controversy and backlash from people who opposed interracial relationships. This cartoon is direct evidence of the racism and public hostility Douglass faced even late in his life, despite his fame and achievements, and shows how popular media of the era spread racist stereotypes.

Look closer

  • What techniques does the cartoon use to mock and demean its subjects?
  • Why do you think this kind of image was created and published, and who was its audience?
  • What does the existence of this cartoon tell you about attitudes toward interracial marriage in the 1880s?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Frederick Douglass on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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