'Representation matters.' Frederick Douglass statue unveiled in state Senate halls

BOSTON — Senate President Karen Spilka says she was initially “outraged” by the lack of women and people of color represented in artwork displayed throughout the State House. On Wednesday, she had a chance to do something about it — a sculpture of the bust of 19th century abolitionist Fredrick Douglass was unveiled in the Senate chamber.

“Representation matters,” Spilka said during a ceremony to celebrate the bronze bust’s installation. “We must be intentional about who we lift up, and who speaks from the walls of our Senate chamber and from the walls of our State House.”

The Douglass statue joins other busts of historic figures in the chamber, including those of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Benjamin Franklin.

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“It’s almost like we were all left out by accident or design,” said Spilka, D-Ashland, in an interview after Wednesday's ceremony.

She addressed the lack of diversity presented within her own office by covering the images of previous Senate presidents — all white males — with art and photographs depicting a diverse collection of women who had “some significant, positive connection to Massachusetts.”

Spilka’s “HERstory” project memorializes dozens of women from the 1600s to the present along the walls of the Senate president’s office.

Frederick Douglass became prominent abolitionist upon his arrival in Massachusetts

L’Merchie Frazier, a State House Art Commission member, spoke during Wednesday's Douglass unveiling and said artwork that celebrates diversity can “shape a better future.”

“It is art and culture that have always been a way to work through the blind spots and laws that did not honor the humanity of its citizens,” Frazier said.

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Douglass escaped enslavement in 1838 and temporarily lived in Massachusetts, where he became a prominent orator, writer and advocate for the abolition of slavery.

Kenneth B. Morris Jr., a Douglass descendant and president of the Rochester, New York-based nonprofit Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives, said Massachusetts played an essential role in Douglass’ life and activism, according to a press release from Spilka’s office.

“From New Bedford to Nantucket to Lynn, and many cities and towns in between, Massachusetts is where Frederick Douglass found freedom, raised his young family, and began to realize the power of his story and his voice,” Morris said in the release.

The Senate placed a quote from Douglass — “Truth, justice, liberty and humanity will ultimately prevail” — on the chamber’s back wall when the room was renovated in 2019.

Spilka plans second piece of artwork in Senate chamber, this time of a woman

The renovation also left open spots for two sculptures to hang in the chamber. The Douglass bust filled one of them, and Spilka said she planned to fill the other with a piece of artwork celebrating a woman.

“There is still much more work that needs to be done to make our Commonwealth a more welcoming place for all of our residents,” Spilka said at the event. “It is my hope that everyone who steps into this room will see Frederick Douglass and recognize themselves in this chamber and know that regardless of your background, you are welcomed in the halls of our democracy.”

The bust is a replica of a piece originally created by sculptor Lloyd Lillie, who died in 2020. It's the first to be added to the Senate chamber since 1898.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Frederick Douglass sculpture unveiled at MA State House