Frederick Johnson escaped slavery and came to New Bedford in the late 1830s, where he found himself staying in the home of freed blacks Nathaan and Polly Johnson.
The couple alerted Frederick that there were at least 30 other Johnsons in the city directory and suggested he ought to change his name.
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Self-taught and literate, Frederick picked his new last name from a book he was reading – “Lady of the Lake” by Sir Walter Scott – and adopted the name of its hero, Douglas.
He added an extra ‘s’ and was christened as Frederick Douglass.
It’s history like this that the Southeastern Massachusetts Convention and Visitors Bureau and the New Bedford Historical Society hope to use to draw people to the region.
The effort came after the success of a bus tour in October, when 55 visitors saw some of New Bedford’s African-American, Cape Verdean and Native American landmarks, said Dagny Ashley, the visitor bureau’s director of group sales.
The city will look to book similar tours in the future.
For a city that had more black people per capita than any other northern American city in 1850, it only made sense to draw on its cultural heritage to attract visitors.
“I’ve known for a long time that we’ve had this,” Ashley said. “It’s just a matter of getting the word out.”
Aside from the Johnson home, which is owned by the New Bedford Historical Society, the city boasts landmarks from the Underground Railroad, monuments to the 54th Regiment and the New Bedford Whaling Museum – the city’s tribute to the industry that garnered international attention and employed various freed blacks and people of other ethnicities.
According to Ashley, history tours – particularly culturally based ones – have been increasing in popularity across the nation. Black and Hispanic are the fastest growing markets for bus tours, she said.
Historical Society President Joan Beaubian said she thinks black history has become more of a draw as people have become more willing to learn about slavery and its aftershocks, and she has noticed a “healing” taking place regarding the subject.
Beaubian said the group is presently considering how to best restore the interior of the Nathan and Polly Johnson home.
With the exterior of the house nearly finished, Beaubian said the Historical Society is considering putting in a lift that would take visitors from the bottom floor of the house to the top floor, signifying Douglass’ rise from a runaway slave.
“To have a connection so pertinent to the life of Frederick Douglass is probably one of the most important parts of the experience,” Beaubian said.
Ashley said the visitors bureau is likely to send representatives to the African-American Travel Conference in Little Rock, Ark., this spring, where it will continue to promote its efforts.
