“…As a boy, Frederick Douglass was largely separated from his mother, Harriet Bailey, as her enslaver sold or sent her children away to other plantations. Bailey would do everything she could to love and care for her children. At night, she would walk 24 miles for the chance to hold and comfort Frederick. Her nickname for him was “My Little Valentine.”
After self-liberating, Douglass chose February 14 as his birthday to honor his mother and ensure her love would always be a part of his story.” -Stowe Center for Literary Activism