Congressman Andy Harris has co-sponsored a bill that would create a commission to celebrate the bicentennial of the birth of famed former slave and abolitionist Frederick Douglass.
In a statement issued by his office the Eastern Shore Republican called Douglass the father of the civil rights movement.
The measure to create the commission is co-sponsored by D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton.
Douglas was born in Talbot County in 1818 and escaped from slavery in 1838.
He later become a leader in the abolitionist movement as a speaker and writer.
