First portrait of Black Americans arrives at Mechanics Hall to be installed in March

Richard Duckett, Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Updated ·4 min read
James Goldsberry — a descendant of 19th century Black Worcester business owners and abolitionists William Brown and Martha Brown — takes a selfie as workers struggle to load their approximately 11-by-8 foot portrait onto a freight elevator at Mechanics Hall. The workers ended up carrying the painting through the front doors.
James Goldsberry — a descendant of 19th century Black Worcester business owners and abolitionists William Brown and Martha Brown — takes a selfie as workers struggle to load their approximately 11-by-8 foot portrait onto a freight elevator at Mechanics Hall. The workers ended up carrying the painting through the front doors.
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Mechanics Hall received a special delivery Monday when the first paining of its Portraits Project arrived.

The painting was of 19th-century Black Worcester business owners, abolitionists and husband and wife William and Martha Brown. The portrait has been painted by Brenda Zlamany of Brooklyn, New York.

Mechanics Hall executive director Kathleen M. Gagne said, "It's a tremendous day for Mechanics Hall. It's a tremendous day for the entire community given what the hall represents for history and the present day."

The Portrait Project will officially install the first paintings of impactful 19th-century Black Americans in Mechanics Hall March 14. Besides William and Martha Brown, the portraits will be of former slave, abolitionist and women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth, painted by Manu Saluja of Long Island, New York, and former slave and abolitionist Frederick Douglass, painted by Imo Nse Imeh of Holyoke.

More: Painting history: Mechanics Hall readies new portraits of four 19th century Black leaders

More: Mechanics Hall in good fiscal health, Portraits Project moving ahead, annual meeting told

Among those on hand Monday was James Goldsberry, William and Martha Brown's great-great grandson. "It's quite an honor for our family," Goldsberry said.

The occasion itself Monday was big in several respects. The painting of the couple is about 10-and-a-half feet tall and 8 feet wide. It was carried out of a truck in a plastic cover by four men from Clark Fine Arts Surfaces in Cambridge who had gone to the Mechanics Hall rear entrance on Waldo Street. The idea was to take the service elevator up to the Great Hall. But the portrait proved too big for the elevator, so the painting was placed back in the truck, which was driven to the front of Mechanics Hall at 321 Main St. There, the four men were able to get the painting through the front doors and up the stairs. Those watching such as Goldsberry gave the men a round of applause when the portrait came through the doors.

Portraits of national and local notable persons hang in the Great Hall or main hall of Mechanics Hall, but currently none of them are of Black Americans. Nineteen portraits were installed in the Great Hall from 1866 (George Washington and Abraham Lincoln) to 1927 (Sen. George F. Hoar), all of them men. In 1999, following an initiative from the Worcester Women's History Project, the portraits of four women (Lucy Stone, Abby Kelley Foster, Dorothea Dix and Clara Barton) were unveiled.

The Portrait Project was first announced at the 2020 annual meeting of the Worcester County Mechanics Association. The association, which was established in 1842, owns and operates Mechanics Hall, a historic venue built in 1857.

Kathleen Gagne, Mechanics Hall executive director, left, high-fives Gloria D. Hall, co-chair of the Portrait Project, as James Goldsberry looks on after workers managed to get the painting into the building.
Kathleen Gagne, Mechanics Hall executive director, left, high-fives Gloria D. Hall, co-chair of the Portrait Project, as James Goldsberry looks on after workers managed to get the painting into the building.

A Portraits Project Committee was formed to oversee the process and last year the three artists were commissioned to paint the portraits of William and Martha Brown, Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass.

The portraits Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass are expected to arrive Wednesday.

The cost of the project was estimated at $500,000, but Gagne said that to date over $575,000 has been raised. The project includes commissioning the portraits, framing, transporting, re-positioning portraits in the gallery, preservation work and educational programming for youth.

Gloria D. Hall, co-chair of the Portraits Project Committee, called Monday "fantastic." She noted that there are not any images of William and Martha Brown together so the artist had to do a lot of research.

William Brown (1824-92), an upholsterer and carpetmaker who worked with the Underground Railroad, became the first Black member of the Worcester County Mechanics Association in 1867. Martha Tulip Lewis Brown (1821-1889) worked alongside William and later their son, Charles, in the family carpet and upholstery business that was located in the original Central Exchange Building in the heart of downtown Worcester. She also worked with the Underground Railroad and was the first woman of color to become a member of the Ladies Benevolent Society of the First Unitarian Church of Worcester. She and other women raised money for the welfare of freed slaves and fugitive slaves.

Workers manage to get the painting of 19th century Black Worcester business owners and abolitionists William Brown and Martha Brown through the front door of Mechanics Hall.
Workers manage to get the painting of 19th century Black Worcester business owners and abolitionists William Brown and Martha Brown through the front door of Mechanics Hall.

Goldsberry said Frederick Douglass was a friend of theirs and visited their home on Palmer Street (which runs parallel to Belmont Street).

Goldsberry, founder and CEO of NextUp2Lead in Westborough, is on the board of trustees of Mechanics Hall. His parents, Dr. John Goldsberry and Dr. Dorita Goldsberry, have also served on the board, and Dr. John Goldsberry is now an honorary member.

Asked if he thought it odd that there were no Black Americans in the portrait gallery, James Goldsberry said of the Mechanics Hall Portrait Project and Monday's delivery, "I use the word 'unfortunate,' but I don't think it's odd because it was typical of that time. I think that's what makes this outstanding.

"To have a couple who ran a business in Worcester have their portrait hung is just amazing. Not just for my family. To have a portrait of people of color hanging in the Great Hall, my hope is it's inspirational (to) everyone but I hope to young Black people especially."

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Mechanics Hall welcomes portrait of 19th-century Black Americans