Last updated: February 25, 2022
Place
Nathan and Polly Johnson House
NPS Photo
Quick Facts
Location:
21 7th Street. New Bedford, MA 02740
Designation:
National Historic Landmark
Amenities
2 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Information
About
The Nathan and Polly Johnson House is a location important to the history of the Underground Railroad. Mentioned in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Nathan and Polly Johnson provided the first free home to Frederick and Anna Douglass. A designated site on the National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, it became a National Historic Landmark in 2000 and, was added to the Network to Freedom in 2001. The Johnson House is also a site on the White House Millennial trail and the New Bedford Black History Trial.
History
The Nathan and Polly Johnson House is a Greek Revival/Italianate-style building built in the area east of County Street “behind the mansions.” A Black migration and settlement in this neighborhood mirrored white migration in some instances and stood distinct from others. The owners Nathan and Mary Johnson were prosperous African American entrepreneurs who were well known for their extensive work in the anti-slavery movement.
This house is located on 21 Seventh Street and was constructed by Nathan Johnson in the early 19th century. Nathan Johnson was a very prominent African American resident of New Bedford. He was born into slavery in Virginia in 1795 and in the early 19th century escaped to new Bedford. In 1819, he married Mary (known as Polly) Page, the daughter of Isaac and Ann Mingo, a free black family from Fall River. Nathan and Polly were actively involved in the Underground Railroad, and they assisted many former slaves in their journey north including Frederick Douglass, who escaped from slavery and came to New Bedford in 1838.
The Nathan and Polly Johnson House was a shelter for freedom for many enslaved families. The most notable families are Frederick and Anna Douglass, The Molyneux-Gibson family, Josephine and Clarissa family, William Wells Brown, and Caroline Harris. It was in this house, then, Frederick Johnson became Frederick Douglass. This name was suggested to him by Nathan Johnson. Nathan claims that there were too many Johnsons in New Bedford and suggested Douglass from a book he was reading. The book was Sir Walter Scott’s verse “Lady of the Lake,” whose hero is the Scottish Lord Douglas; the name, with an extra “s” became the fugitive’s new name.