Paola Brown was the ‘great-grandfather’ of Black activism in Hamilton
Some years ago, I was involved in a popular theatrical production called James Street" that was billed as a mad musical dash through the history of Hamilton."
Written and directed by playwright Ron Weihs, of Artword Theatre - with songs by myself - the story centred around two time-travellers who witnessed and sometimes took part in various local events over the past two centuries.
One of the main characters, played by Jeremy Jay' Shand, was based on a Black town crier who lived in Hamilton in the early to mid-1800s. His name was Paola Brown, and he was well known during his lifetime for clanging a loud bell and making civic pronouncements with a booming, sonorous voice.
The play also dealt with Brown's leadership in the local Black community but used some literary licence about other parts of his life - most notably his ability to suddenly show up at key moments of local history with his Sicilian-born Hamiltonian sidekick played by Charly Chiarelli.
With this being Black History Month, I decided to find out more about the real Paola Brown.
The 2010 book, The Journey from Tollgate to Parkway - African Canadians in Hamilton by Adrienne Shadd was a good place to start.
In it, Brown is described as a tall, stout, dark man who dressed immaculately in black coat and pants, plug hat, white ruffled shirt, kid gloves and kid boots.
Paola Brown had a deep booming voice that could reportedly be heard past the town limits."
McMaster University historian John Weaver wrote in an article for the Dictionary of Canadian Biography" that, during his years in Hamilton, Brown supported himself and his wife by working as a handyman and by acting as town-crier and crier for an auctioneer. Local accounts describe him as unusual and popular ..."
After unsuccessful petitions to the Lieutenant Governor to establish settlements for Blacks at various places in the area, Brown gravitated to Hamilton. The flourishing state of Hamilton in the late 1820s and during the 1830s attracted a small black community, in which Brown assumed a leadership role."
But some major details of his story are elusive.
It's not known when or how he died or even for certain how to pronounce his first name. There are no known photos or painted portraits of him today.
Weaver says the last mention of Brown he could find was in the 1852 census, which listed him as living in the basement of a prominent lawyer and land speculator named Hugh Bowlby Willson.
Paola Brown disappears thereafter and it has been alleged that he died a pauper."
Many believed that Brown, who was born in Pennsylvania around 1807, was a runaway slave. But, Weaver says it is more likely he was an indentured urban servant or freeman rather than being a rural slave."
Yet, Brown certainly had strong opinions about the subject. On Feb. 7, 1851 - 171 years ago this week - he hosted a captivating lecture at Hamilton City Hall about the horrid institution" in the United States.
The Spectator wrote that Brown's performance was riveting as he bellowed out his message to an audience of 200 people that rocked the rafters in cheering agreement.
This cursed subject of slavery is a blighting curse hanging over slaveholding America. It spreads ruin and devastation over the land, and, if we are not careful to resist the diabolical influences of the contagion ... darkness, utter darkness, thick and black darkness, gentlemen," he said.
But, the speech was cut short when some evil disposed person" set off firecrackers and turned off the gas which plunged the hall into darkness and forced an end to the proceedings.
Brown, however, was determined to push forward with the message. He launched a successful fundraising drive to print booklets of the speech, not an easy task at the time.
Shadd says the published address - called The Subject of Slavery" - shows determination on Brown's part but she says she was disappointed to learn recently that it was copied in large part from a celebrated tract in African American literature called Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World,' by David Walker that was published in 1829.
But, Brown is still remembered for his leadership in the Hamilton area's Black community. Among other causes he took on, he rallied behind runaway slave Jesse Happy to prevent his extradition to the U.S.
My take on Paola Brown was that he was literate. That he was an activist. He was out there in the forefront of leading the charge for Black people having their rights," said Shadd. He would have been the great-grandfather of the activist movement today."
Weaver writes that one reason Brown pressed for a parcel of land to draw together Black families from Niagara to Waterloo" was a perceived need for self-protection: cases of blacks being kidnapped and returned to the United States were cited in the petitions. Moreover, racially inspired petty violence had occurred in Upper Canada and, not long after his petitioning, Brown himself was a victim. In May 1829, George Gurnett, the publisher of the Gore Gazette of Ancaster, was accused of violent assault and battery upon one Paoli Brown, a man of colour.'"
Shand, who was not aware of Brown's story before joining the cast of six actors in the play, says he came to know that he was a very determined man. He would stand up for himself and he would stand up for others.
He was very proud of his role as town crier. He was informed about a lot of things before anyone else in the town. He was go-between between the black and the white community. He created this stature that was larger than life for a lot of people who got to know him."
And Shand feels Brown is someone from Hamilton history who should be better known.
A few years ago, Shand was at The George Hamilton Restaurant and Brewery (at King and Bay) and found himself taking part in a conversation with owners and others about potential names for craft beers being introduced to go along with the local history theme of the business.
Shand suggested a Paola Brown beer. And the owners went along with the idea. For a while, the brewery produced an oatmeal stout ale in Brown's name. Today, it is no longer available.
But maybe it's time for something more permanent and suitable to acknowledge a key figure in the city's Black history. How about Paola Brown Street?