Worcester Business Journal

1822-1921 e business took off faster than she had expected. Her brother, a sales representative for her father's company, took her first samples on the road. A contemporary account says she had been expecting $200 worth of orders from that tour, but instead received $5,000 worth. e demand would continue, until at the height of her success, she reportedly grossed $100,000 a year. Esther had several competitors. e most prominent was Jotham Ta, who had begun marketing cards of his own from nearby Graon in the early 1840s. In 1879, his son Edward made a deal with Esther to merge the two businesses, forming the New England Valentine Co. In 1880, according to differing accounts, she either sold or le the business in order to take care of her by-then-ailing father. In 1881, George Whitney bought the combined business, naming it e Whitney Co. It would produce machine-made cards, which became widely popular, but the business would shutter in 1942 due to paper shortages during World War II. Esther's cards, intricately layered and decorated with satin and lace, set a cultural standard at the time, spreading throughout New England and eventually across the rest of the United States. – Mikaila Baca-Dorion Esther Howland (1828-1904) An assembly line of women assembling Valentines B usiness owner, inventor, and abolitionist William Brown (1824-1892), a free black man, became an economic success in the 19th century. Born in Boston in 1824, he moved to Worcester around the age of 15 and established his upholstery business in Worcester's downtown in 1841. e William and F.A. Brown Upholsterers brought him into the homes of the city's most affluent white residents and before long his upholstered chairs, lounges, and sofas were part of the living rooms of the city's elite. William held patents on several inventions, including "Browns Patent Fruit Picker" (1867) and "A New Improved Sofa Bed" (1868). e fruit picker was mentioned in an 1867 issue of Scientific American. A year aerward, he was inducted into the Worcester County Mechanics Association, becoming its first African American member. William and his wife Martha were active in the abolition movement. Lifelong friends of Frederick Douglass, they were instrumental in leading a memorial for famous abolitionist John e inventor & the abolitionist e Browns upholstered for the elite & serviced the Underground Railroad Brown in the city aer John Brown's death at Harpers Ferry in 1859. ey welcomed escaping slaves from the South via the Underground Railroad, among them Isaac Mason, who fled Maryland for Delaware in 1847. Mason sought further refuge and moved to Worcester in the early 1850s, where the Browns provided food and shelter. Honored in the Great Hall Soon, three portraits of people of color will hang inside Mechanics Hall, with a proposed ceremony for fall of 2023. "ere were no Black people on the walls inside the great hall," said Stacey Luster, president of the Mechanics Association. "All 6th grade students go to the hall every year on school trips. Many of our children are Black and brown students, and for the first time they will be able to see prominent historical figures who look just like them." One portrait going into the Great Hall will feature William and Martha Brown. "It's a wow moment," said Dr. John Goldsberry, great-great grandson of William and Martha, a retired physi- cian and U.S. Army Vveteran. "I am just thrilled that my great-great-gran- dad is going to be recognized this way." John's wife Dr. Dorista Goldsberry said the portrait is a "great honor for our family" and "cements their legacy in the city." – Stephen Underwood W o r c e s t e r 3 0 0 : C i t y o f I n n o v a t o r s 23 Martha Brown, born in 1818 Images | Image | Courtesy of Dr. John Goldsberry

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