Douglass Hall

Frederick Douglass Memorial Hall is a classroom building that also houses several departments of the College of Arts and Sciences, including the Departments of Political Science, Sociology, Anthropology, History, along with ROTC progams. In addition to classrooms and ornate lecture halls, it includes a student lounge and reading rooms. The building was dedicated in 1935 and designed by renowned architect Albert Cassell. 

About the Building's Name

Frederick Douglass Memorial Hall is named after Frederick Douglass (LL.D., 1872), the foremost voice of the 19th-century abolitionist movement. Douglass served on Howard's Board of Trustees from 1872 until his death in 1895. The university awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1872.

Howard History

• United States Vice President Kamala Harris (B.A. '86) delivered her concession speech on a stage erected outside Douglass Hall after the 2024 presidential election, during which she was the nominee of the Democratic Party. She was the first Black woman or person of Asian descent to be a major party nominee for president of the United States.
• Iconic boxer Muhammad Ali spoke from the steps of Douglass Hall on April 22, 1967, days before his famous refusal to be inducted into the Armed Forces during the Vietnam War. He encouraged Black Howard students not to feel inferior to white Americans.
• Howard University's Moorland Spingarn Center holds a collection of Frederick Douglass's papers, including his letters to to his sons, 1850 editions of the North Star (the newspaper he founded and edited), and his speeches for civil and human rights.

Learn More

Read: Forget What You’ve Heard: Frederick Douglass Was a Howard University Man

> View More Campus Places
> View a Campus Map
> General Parking and Transportation Information
> View a Parking Map