Friends of the Vermont State House and State Curator’s Office Commission a Portrait of Alexander Twilight for the Vermont State House

Alexander Lucius Twilight (1795 - 1857)

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Gail Carrigan, Friends of the Vermont Statehouse Administrator

126 State Street
Montpelier, VT 05633
Email: info@vtstatehousefriends.org 

Website: https://friendsvtstatehouse.org/artist-submission/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friends Group and State Curator’s Office Commission Portrait of

Alexander Twilight for the Vermont State House

MONTPELIER, VT: The Friends of the Vermont State House, a private non-profit that has worked for nearly 40 years helping to restore the building and to educate visitors at Vermont’s capitol in Montpelier, has agreed to join the Vermont State Curator’s Office in commissioning a portrait of Alexander Twilight, the first African American legislator in the United States. 

In addition, the Friends have procured a major gift from the National Life Group of Vermont to pay for the creation of such a piece for the State House collection.

On the occasion of the 225th birthday of Alexander Twilight, a day designated by the Vermont General Assembly earlier this year as “Alexander Twilight Day”,  Vermont State Curator David Schutz,  Friends co-chairs Jack Carter and John Dumville, and National Life Group vice president Chris Graff announced their partnership in commissioning a work of art that will portray the well-known early Vermont educator and legislator.  It is hoped the painting will be ready to hang in the State House by 2022.

Twilight was born September 23, 1795 to Ichabod and Mary Twilight of Corinth, Vermont, who are mentioned in a Corinth town history as the “first negroes” to live there.  This reference remains one of the few pieces of evidence of Alexander Twilight’s biracial heritage.  He would go on to study at Middlebury College, graduating in 1823 as probably the first African American college graduate in the country.  Within a few years Twilight would move to Brownington, Vermont to serve as the principal of the Orleans County Grammar School—an institution of learning that would thrive under his leadership in the decades that followed.  In 1836 Twilight managed to construct a four-story stone dormitory for students called Athenian Hall (today’s Old Stone House Museum)—and that same year he would be elected to represent the Town of Brownington in the Vermont General Assembly in Montpelier.

The State House remains closed during the current pandemic and will likely not open to the public again until 2021.  The State Curator’s Office is currently developing a new interpretive plan for the historic building, which will guide public programming and appreciation in the decade ahead.  For additional information, please contact State Curator David Schutz at david.schutz@vermont.gov.

 

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Honoring the 19th Amendment through Word and Song

Coming February 5, 2020. In this Farmers Night program commemorating the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage, Marlboro College professor Meg Mott leads a dialogue on the history and meaning of the 19th Amendment. Meg will be accompanied by Wesleyan University scholar and composer, Neely Bruce, conducting the State House Singers in his original choral arrangement of the Bill of Rights, along with the premiere of his 19th Amendment composition.

A Record Breaking Year and a Hearty Thanks

Friends of Friends,

As we are getting underway with our agenda and projects for 2020, we thought we’d take a step back and give a hearty “thank you” to everyone who supported Friends of the Vermont State House with their time, engagement, gifts, and appreciation of our treasured State House. We are happy to say that our Annual Appeal drive was very successful, resulting in record gifts.

We have an exciting year ahead of us, starting with the new “Women in the State House” exhibit installed on February 7 and the Friends’ sponsored Farmers Night that followed. We had a good turnout for “The 19th Amendment through Word and Song” and have great appreciation for everyone who lent their voice and music to the performance.

Our curatorial committee is working to bring attention to diversity in the State House art collection, as well as highlighting and displaying important artifacts. Our education outreach committee are working on new ways to engage young Vermonters in the legislative process and let them develop an appreciation for our institution.

We are affiliated with the Vermont Suffrage Centennial Alliance, which will be holding many events to celebrate 100 years since the 19th Amendment was enacted, including a city-wide parade in Montpelier and a festival on the State House lawn.

We look forward to seeing you at Friends’ events and at the State House throughout 2020.

Jack Carter, John Dumville and the Friends of the State House Trustees

A Time to Be Thankful.

The Friends have been busy in 2019.  The new Curatorial Task Force is working to help shape the building’s collection of art and artifacts to more broadly represent Vermont’s diverse community. This means imagining and supporting ways to display both new additions to the collection as well as past acquisitions that need to be reinterpreted in light of evolving historical perspective. One of the most important examples of this is the Abenaki exhibition now in the lobby that showcases Native American contributions to Vermont’s heritage in the most important public building in the state. The education committee is developing a graphic booklet to introduce a new generation to the ideas of how a democracy works and every citizen’s civic responsibility. An ad hoc committee is considering  adding descriptive labels to some of the State House art collection to provide a new level of context for the state’s history. 

The Friends of the Vermont State House have kicked off their Annual Appeal for donations. The work of the Friends of the Vermont State House is entirely funded by donations from Vermonters such as you who care about the state’s heritage. Please help us continue our work. Your generosity is greatly appreciated by every Vermonter.