Home tour was excellent. The park ranger, Braden, really honed his conversation to us and the idea of Civil War Washington. The title comes from something he said. At Douglass' death in 1895, there was division as to how to remember him under Jim Crow. He wasn't allowed to a state funeral. Alot of people just wanted to forget his legacy. His wife decided to let his house be the memorial. And it is better than a monument-it captures him in real time: meeting visitors, having his hair braided by his grandchildren, dining with the leaders of the day and the daily routine. If you look in one direction on his porch, you can seen Maryland-where he starts life as a slave. In the other direction, from the top of this hill, you can see the Washington Monument and the Capitol, symbols of a world he helped create.
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