North Star Newspaper Cover Vol. 3 No. 28 (Cropped)

The North Star, founded and edited by Frederick Douglass in 1847, was an influential abolitionist newspaper dedicated to fighting slavery and promoting equality. Named after the star that guided many escaping enslaved people to freedom, it became a voice for abolition, advocating fiercely for the rights of Black Americans and marginalized communities.  The cover features a stylized masthead with large serif moveable type in decorative flourished borders, an engraving of a black slave on the journey towards freedom and a subheading that states “RIGHT IS OF NO SEX, TRUTH IS OF NO COLOR: GOD IS THE FATHER OF US ALL, AND ALL MEN ARE BRETHERN. ”

Published in Rochester, New York, and subscribed to by over 4,000 members in the US and Europe; it addressed issues like racial justice, women's rights, and the moral imperatives against slavery, offering readers both news and inspiration for social change. Douglass used the North Star as a platform to argue for immediate emancipation and equal rights, setting it apart as a groundbreaking publication in American history.

The steam powered printing press used to create this paper was a crucial tool in helping causes like abolition in the US become widespread. This was found while researching the impact of technology on design history and how it was used in service and empowerment of oppressed peoples.