Frederick Douglass on Pennington

Abstract The first section brings together Pennington’s slave narrative The Fugitive Blacksmith (1849) (1.1) with four documents which contextualize Pennington’s life in personal, abolitionist, and transatlantic religious networks. The critical introduction to The Fugitive Blacksmith situates the work within the slave narrative genre and highlights its distinguishing features. The four supporting documents include Frederick Douglass’s 1851 piece on Pennington for Frederick Douglass’ Paper (1.2), in which Pennington exemplifies the ethical contradictions of slaveholding, Christian America. The 1854 “Story of Stephen Pembroke” (1.3) offers a firsthand account of the fate of some of Pennington’s family members. The printed letter from Pennington, which appeared in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s A Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1853) (1.4), offers Pennington’s reflections on the experience of racialized marginalization. Finally, the translated 1850 petition to the University of Heidelberg’s Faculty of Theology for an honorary D.D. (1.5) shows Pennington’s growing international recognition.