The Alex Breanne Corporation, in collaboration with a coalition of local partners and public art nonprofit, RiseUP for Arts, is proud to announce the launch of the Fortune Mural Project in Waterbury, CT. This initiative aims to create a large-scale mural to honor Fortune, an 18th-century enslaved man whose story is a significant, yet often overlooked part of Connecticut’s history.
Fortune’s life, while enslaved in Waterbury, and the posthumous treatment of his remains, highlight the complexities of our shared past. This project, supported by a diverse group of community partners, seeks to present his story in a way that fosters understanding, dialogue, and healing.
Who was Fortune?
Fortune was an 18th century Waterbury resident, enslaved by Dr. Preserved Porter. In 1798, he fell from a rock at the side of a river and died. Dr. Porter and his descendants then used Fortune’s body for medical science, training and profit for over 130 years. His bones were then donated to the Mattatuck Museum and displayed from 1933 until 1970.
In the 1990’s, Fortune’s bones were studied by archeologists and anthropologists.
On September 12, 2013, Fortune’s remains lay in repose in the State Capitol rotunda in Hartford on Thursday before being taken by state police escort to Waterbury for a memorial service at the church where he was baptized and a burial in a cemetery filled with prominent citizens. The Rev. Amy D. Welin, Rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Waterbury, told hundreds gathered for the service that Mr. Fortune, as he was called, was being buried not as a slave “but as a child of God who is blessed.” His bones would eventually be buried at Riverside Cemetery in Waterbury, 215 years after his death. Click here to read and view a story which aired on NBC Connecticut.