NEW BEDFORD — As part of Black History Month, British Consul General in Boston, Dr. Peter Abbott, OBE, traveled to New Bedford's Nathan and Polly Johnson House to highlight American abolitionist and statesman Frederick Douglass and his connections to the U.K. “We enjoy the opportunity to talk about (Frederick) Douglass, and talk about his impact in England and Ireland,” said New Bedford Historical Society President Lee Blake on Thursday. She welcomed Abbott and state Senator Mark C. Montigny into the historic house, while live on the British Consulate Boston’s official Twitter. “People need to know these stories,” she said. Blake has significant ties to New Bedford not only as a former high school African American Studies teacher but, as she pointed out, the “great-great-great-great-great granddaughter” of the Whaling City’s William and Amelia Piper. In the mid 1800s, the Pipers were members of the abolitionist movement and the Underground Railroad.