Portrait of Frederick Douglass, 1855

Architecture, like any field, is one filled with endless recordings, writings, images, and material of its long history. Books hold the information of the ages, yet so many of us are "too busy" to read any of it. We take our access to books for granted. But there are those of us who genuinely want to change that. We want to spend more time reading. We know that it's a practice that can help us grow and improve in our professional (and personal) pursuits. But, still, we have trouble making it happen. I think that sometimes, putting things into a certain perspective can help us make shifts like this in life. This article shares the early life of one of America's greatest citizens and how reading set him on a path to rid the world of one of its most horrifying institutions. Hopefully, a little snippet from his life can help give us an idea on how we might situate reading into our busy lives. 

Off to Rome!

As a boy, Frederick Douglass lived enslaved on the Wye Plantation in Talbot County, Maryland. He was under the care of a ruthless overseer named Aaron Anthony. According to Douglas, it was a terrorizing childhood. But when he was nine years old, he caught a stroke of good fortune. Anthony was sick and getting older, and his estate would soon be taken over by someone new. As a result, the enslaved people in his possession had to be redistributed. 

Instead of being shipped to another plantation, Douglass got lucky and was sent to Baltimore to live in the home of Hugh Auld. City life versus life on the plantation? It was a deal that Frederick could not believe. He had heard of Baltimore and, excited as any boy would be, counted down the days until his departure. We have to remember that the young enslaved boy had never seen a city before; he didn't even have an accurate concept of time. Life on a plantation kept enslaved people detached from the rest of the world. For Douglass, as he puts it, seeing Baltimore for the first time was like being a "traveler at the first site of Rome."

...seeing Baltimore for the first time was like being a "traveler at the first site of Rome"

Literacy = Freedom

After he arrived to the city, Frederick was taken to the home of his new masters, Hugh and Sophia Auld. During his first couple of years with the family, Sophia treated him much more like a son than her property, making him feel almost like a "half-brother" to her real son, Tommy. Aside from her sweet nature, the true gift Sophia gave Douglass was in teaching him to read. But after a few years, when Frederick was about eleven years old, Hugh, Sophia's husband, forbade her to continue teaching the young boy.

It was "unlawful" for a enslaved person to read in Maryland, he told his wife, and it would "forever unfit him for the duties of a slave." Hugh was right, and Frederick, overhearing this argument, began to envision a way to liberate himself. In his biography on the famous abolitionist, David Blight elaborates, "If 'knowledge unfits a child to be a slave,' Douglass later wrote, then he had found the motive power of his path out, or at least inward, to freedom." 

Tuition Paid in Bread

Despite his new boundaries, Douglass still would sneak newspapers and books into the home, take them to his bed, and continue in his self-education. Quickly, this became a problem in the Auld house. Sophia was constantly policing the young Douglass' rebellious behavior, continuously catching him reading in some corner one of his smuggled books or newspapers. 

Understanding that he needed to avoid Sophia's watch and determined to realize his literacy, Frederick, carrying his Webster's spelling book, headed for the streets. He made friends with some of the local white boys and would give them the bread Sophia had made for him each day as payment for spelling lessons. There was no stopping the young buck from reaching his goal. 

From Slave to International Star

If we fast forward through the life of Frederick Douglass, we find him sorrowfully returning to the Wye plantation where he faced daunting hardship, a failed escape, and relentless punishment. However, luck finds him once more, and he returns to Baltimore. After a while, Douglass the enslaved man, becomes Douglass the orator, writer, and most famously, the abolitionist. He embarks on a dramatic escape from Baltimore to Philadelphia, then to New York, and eventually changes his name. (Douglass was born Frederick Bailey, he changed his name to Frederick Douglass to avoid recapture after he escaped. In this article I use "Douglass" throughout to minimize confusion). Newly married and ready to embrace his life's task to abolish slavery, Douglass turned to his most potent asset, his voice.

It's in his masterful use of words and countless speaking tours, traveling throughout the United States and eventually to Europe, that Douglass is able to make his most profound impact. He later founded a newspaper, The North Star, writing to thousands of readers, and published three autobiographies of his life. The once curious enslaved boy was now a formidable reformer, who would stop at nothing to rid the world of the injustice of slavery. 

That initial determination to learn to read, and eventually, to write, gave Douglass the tools to challenge angry mobs, racist States, and even Presidents. Reading became his fuel, and words became his weapons. 

Reading Opens Us Up

For Douglass, reading provided him with a path to freedom. He needed to read. For us, life is not as grim, but what reading does give us, I think, is just as powerful. When we open ourselves up to the ideas of other people, humble ourselves enough to learn from them, we can begin to see the world in new ways. In a profession like ours, so dependent on consistent creativity, this becomes an invaluable practice. 

I remember when I read Mastery by Robert Greene. After I graduated from college, I was so eager to be "great," to accomplish a ton of things, get licensed, have my own firm. The list was endless. I wasn't content with where I was. I was impatient. Mastery helped me to understand the value in the process of learning something. One of my favorite quotes from the book is: when it comes to mastering a skill, time is the magic ingredient. After I read it, I found a new joy in being a student, in submitting myself under someone and enjoying the process of learning. 

I grew up reading. My mother made sure of that. On average, I read about one new book every week, depending on length. I've done this on and off for years now. And even though all of those books impacted me in some way, there was something about this one that just hit me. Perhaps it was a combination of my age, circumstances, and outlook. Can you guys relate? Was there a book that changed how you looked at things? 

I think we do ourselves an injustice by not reading. There are thousands of years of recorded knowledge and history just sitting out there waiting for us to access. How could we not take advantage of that?!

The Dynamic Professional

Without fail, every person who has impacted me on some level, be it from their mentorship, leadership, or instruction, has been a diligent reader (with the exception being those people with unique life experiences). I can't think of something more unattractive than someone who is close-minded. To quote Einstein: the measure of intelligence is the ability to change. He's totally right. 

The leaders that I've admired in my past jobs have always been those who were comfortable being wrong, or changing their minds, even after they advocated for something that didn't work. They were open-minded. On the contrary, working under people who "were always right" and never considered any other ideas but their own, was a complete drag. I couldn't get away from them fast enough. A willingness to be open-minded coupled with an eagerness to learn always produces a dynamic professional.

What Are You Reading?

Like anything, we prioritize what's important to us. I think reading is important work. It's not in the same boat as watching TV or something we do for leisure. Douglass wasn't looking to entertain himself. Instead, he was working to empower himself. How many breakthroughs have there been because someone was eager to learn, to read those who came before them? Countless. 

What are you reading? How has it impacted you? Changed your worldview?

It's the people I've met in architecture who are some of the most well-read individuals. We've talked about the wide-ranging interests of our profession in past pieces. This intrinsic nature lends itself to the prolific researcher. So, in the end, I'd leave you with a question. A serious one, share your answers in the comments or email me. What are you reading? How has it impacted you? Changed your worldview? In a profession so tied to the well being of the public, let's embrace this amazing opportunity we've been given and tap into the endless knowledge we have right at our fingertips.