Quadree “Dree” Palimore, a senior at Harvard College, is finalizing an original musical that tells the story of abolitionist Frederick Douglass’s early life. The project, titled “Bailey: An American Narrative,” focuses on the seven years from October 1838—shortly after Douglass escaped slavery—to 1845, when he published his memoir.
Palimore was inspired to begin the work during his first year at Harvard after reading Douglass’s “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” in a writing course about slave chronicles. He was struck by Douglass’s reflections on music during his time as a slave.
“In his ‘Narrative,’ he writes a lot about the role music had played for him as a slave, how he remembered hearing slave songs,” Palimore said. “He wrote a lot about what he believed the power of music to be. That was compelling to me. There is power in a story. I think the use of song and music can elevate these emotions and experiences that this young man was facing.”
The first melody for the musical came to Palimore unexpectedly while playing keyboard with friends during his sophomore year. Reflecting on that moment, he said, “I had never written my own song. But I knew when I played that melody for the first time, that it felt different… Out of the blue, I started playing the first melody ever for the musical.”
Palimore has conducted extensive research into Douglass’s life and consulted several Harvard faculty members including Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Henry Louis Gates Jr., and John Stauffer for historical accuracy and insight.
He chose to focus on the period just before Douglass changed his name from Frederick Bailey to Frederick Douglass because those were transformative years for the abolitionist. As Palimore explained, “The moments right before changing his name to Frederick Douglass feel important to me, because those were the days when he was making the big moves to do the things that he really wanted to do… I constantly think about how he reconciled being free with having that history attached to his name. How did he cry about it? How did he overcome it? How did he try to run from it?”
While Palimore is primarily a vocalist and member of Harvard Glee Club with beginner piano skills at first, he developed composing abilities through coursework in Theater, Dance & Media and practical experience—including classes taught by Diane Paulus and Marcus Stern.
Mentorship also played an important role in developing “Bailey.” Stew Stewart described working with Palimore: “Dree is a bracingly unique student whose fierce intelligence and visionary ambition fuels a passion for learning and creating that gave me the feeling of collaborating with an equal, more so than merely a professor passing on wisdom and knowledge… Dree’s got enough stuff for a few tables.”
During summer 2024, Palimore completed an internship at A.R.T., participated in vocal workshops with Broadway actors such as A.D. Weaver from “Hamilton,” and shared material from his musical at campus events.
To dedicate more time to writing, Palimore took a gap year after junior year and returned home to Urbandale, Iowa. He worked at Target while composing melodies during breaks: “I would take my 15-minute breaks and put my AirPods in and listen to the songs that I was composing… I would be excited to go home to work on it.”
“Nothing else had ever brought me such fulfillment, staying up until 3 a.m. composing a work and then dreaming about it that same night,” Palimore said regarding his commitment.
A table read of “Bailey” is scheduled for April as Palimore considers possibilities for future performances beyond Harvard.
