NEWARK, N.J. | Frederick Douglass Field (formerly Alumni Field) had its official naming ceremony this afternoon under a sunny, cloudless sky. Speakers from all over Newark gave empowering speeches, including Mayor Ras Baraka and Rutgers University's president, Robert L. Barchi.

Over 400 attendees gathered on the turf field, where both Rutgers University-Newark's men's and women's soccer teams play as well as their softball team, while learning more about Frederick Douglass and what he did for the city. 

170 years ago, famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass visited the African American community in Newark to fundraise for The North Star newspaper and to rally action around the abolition of slavery.

He gave a speech at the Plane Street Colored Church, located at the site which is now Rutgers University-Newark's Frederick Douglass Field.

Frederick Douglass was an escaped slave who became a prominent activist, author, and public speaker. He was a leader in the abolitionist movement, which sought to end the practice of slavery, before and during the Civil War. After that conflict and the Emancipation Proclamation of 1862, he continued to push for equality and human rights until his death in 1895.