💔 Couples 💔

"If one stands in so intimate a relationship with a man as I do with Douglass, one comes to know facets of the whole world, of men + women, which would otherwise remain closed, especially if it is a man whom the entire world has seen + whom so many women have loved."

A 20 year friendship between Frederick Douglass & German born feminist, freethinker, + abolitionist Ottilie Assing was to end in tragedy. After learning that Douglass had married Helen Pitts, Assing killed herself by swallowing cyanide in a public park in Paris. As per her will all her letters with Douglass were burned. She bequeathed him ongoing income from a trust fund + his choice of books from her library.

#couples #FrederickDouglass #ottillieassing #lovestories #valentinesday #lovestory #abolitionists #valentines #tragiclove