Mr. Fortune is free at last.

“Fortune was a formerly enslaved man here in Waterbury. He was enslaved to a doctor by the name of Preserved Porter,” Alex Breanne Corporation President John Mills said.

Fortune died in 1798. His bones traveled through the years. First, they were used by Dr. Preserved Porter for medical research for over 130 years. Then, his skeleton was donated to the Mattatuck Museum and displayed for nearly 40 years. During the 1990s, archaeologists also studied his bones. 

“Eventually it was just realized that he probably should just be buried out of respect for him and his family,” Mills said.

The Greater Waterbury NAACP advocated for Fortune to finally be laid to rest. Dr. Jamie Ullinger, a professor of anthropology at Quinnipiac University, was tasked with a team to do the final X-rays, tests and create a death certificate so Fortune could have a proper burial.

“He was sort of enslaved in death as much as he was in life and so to be a part of helping see him to a point of rest and to a point where the community is telling the story again and making that important is something very special,” Ullinger said. 

 In September of 2013, a gravestone was placed in his honor at the Riverside Cemetery. 

“That is hard to even imagine that someone who contributed to the building of this city was not allowed to be buried,” NAACP Greater Waterbury President Wendy Tyson-Wood said.

 Now, Fortune is being honored at the North End Recreation Center. 

“It’s right in the heart of the community that Fortune lived in,” Mills said.

The Alex Breanne Corporation, in collaboration with local nonprofits and RiseUP for Arts, fundraised $30,000 to create the Fortune Mural Project.

Alex Breanne Corporation President John Mills said donations came from all over, including the Kelly Clarkson Show.

The mural is in the early stages. This past weekend, the community was able to participate in the artwork with lead artist Katiana Jarbath Smith.

“I will do all I can to make sure I dignify and honor him in the best way I can in an artistic way,” RiseUP for Arts artist Katiana Jarbath Smith said. 

Katiana said the mural will include an image of Fortune, his wife and four children. In the center, there will be an American Elm tree.

“It’s a tree that usually folks plant in different communities and parks and stuff, so I wanted to signify that because we are here where a lot of people come together in community,” Smith said.

The tree leaves will pay respect to friends of the North End Rec Center.

People like Reggie Beamon, a former state representative who supported the growth of the center, which is celebrating 50 years.

“I'm humbled by it, we don’t do these things for accolades, we do this for the next generation,” Beamon said.

Ralph DeGroate will also be honored. He served as director of the center for over a decade.

“I’ve been here for many years trying to keep the kids in good recreational spirits,” former director Ralph DeGroate said.

Through the mural, organizers hope the community will never forget the sacrifices of Fortune and many others who helped rebuild the Brass City.

“Again, it also gives the community a place to teach other young children about the people that kind of just endured to build the community can be celebrated, they can be celebrated as well,” Mills said

The mural will be completed in mid-October, with an unveiling ceremony to follow shortly after.