Milton student wins Frederick Douglass oratorical contest

Fiona Fisher, a seventh-grader from Milton, was awarded first place in her age category in a nationwide oratorical contest to recite from memory a famous speech delivered by American abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

The annual contest is held at the National Park Service’s Frederick Douglass National Historic Site in Washington, D.C. Fiona gave a 7-minute recitation of an address by Douglass on women’s suffrage, which he delivered March 31, 1888, before the International Council of Women when it met in the nation’s capital.

“When I ran away from slavery, it was for myself; when I advocated emancipation, it was for my people,” Douglass said in the speech. “But when I stood up for the rights of woman, self was out of the question, and I found a little nobility in the act.”

Fiona spent four months studying, memorizing and practicing the 1,200-word speech, and she delivered it Dec. 7, at Cedar Hill, Douglass’s home in Southeast Washington, D.C. No written notes of any kind are allowed during the speech’s delivery, and contestants could not rewrite sections of the speech nor add their own lines.

For Fiona, many years participating in youth programs at the Milton Theatre gave her a strong footing to memorize and perform the famous address. First-place contest winners including Fiona have been invited to perform their award-winning recitations at a Black History Month event set for Saturday, Feb. 8, in Washington, D.C.