Sculptor Selected for Frederick Douglass Statue in New Bedford

Noted sculptor Richard Blake of Pennsylvania has been selected as the commissioned sculptor for the Frederick Douglass Statue at the Abolition Row Park in New Bedford.

The selection was announced this week by The Frederick Douglass Memorial Committee and the New Bedford Historical Society.

Richard Blake served as President of the National Sculptors Society from 2007 through 2010, and his work has been included in over 100 national and international exhibitions.

Abolition Row Park is located on land at Spring and Seventh Streets. Groundbreaking will take place in 2020. The park will honor those individuals and families in New Bedford that assisted runaway slaves in the 1800s find freedom and a new life as part of the Underground Railroad.

When Frederick Douglass escaped to New Bedford in 1838, he and his wife Anna lived in a house right across the street from the park site. That restored house on Seventh Street now serves as headquarters for the New Bedford Historical Society.