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BOSTON (State House News Service) — The Massachusetts Senate is again adding to its art collection, with Senate President Karen Spilka scheduled Friday to unveil a portrait of Abigail Adams in the lobby and "announce next steps in her plan to select a woman to be honored" with a bust in the Senate Chamber.
The country's second first-lady is also the second woman to be honored with a portrait in the Senate, following former Senate President Therese Murray. Murray's portrait hangs in the Senate Reading Room and Adams' will hang in the adjoining lobby.
In an advisory of the 10:30 a.m. Friday event, Spilka's office said the portrait unveiling will coincide with the start of Women's History Month and "is the latest step in Senate President Spilka’s effort to expand representation in the State House." Officials from the Massachusetts Historical Society will also participate Friday.
When the Senate Chamber was renovated, Spilka has said, she intentionally left two alcoves vacant -- she unveiled a bust of Frederick Douglass in one alcove earlier this month and had previously floated the idea of a bust of Abigail Adams filling the second alcove.
But during an unrelated Senate debate last year, it became clear that at least one senator was not comfortable with celebrating the Adams' of Quincy.
"I am not interested in the world that John Quincy Adams had in any way, shape or form. I am not interested in his definition of democracy ... I am not interested in it because it never included me. It did not include many members of this body," Sen. Lydia Edwards, one of two Black women in the Senate, said after Sen. John Keenan of Quincy used a story of the Adams family to make a point during debate. "And while he may have taken horse and buggy there, I am sure his Mrs. Adams was taking care of the children. I am not aware that he owned any slaves but many of those founding fathers did. So their home lives, their domestic lives, their ability to get on horse and buggy and go where they want for as long as they wanted in the sake of democracy while they oppressed and enslaved other individuals, was taken care of. It's not a world I want, it's not a world worth celebrating."
Written by Colin A. Young/SHNS
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