The famous saying “the world is your oyster” was originally written by Shakespeare in 1602 to be spoken as “the world’s mine oyster” by one of his swash-buckling characters in his comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor. The metaphor in that context was more about a money heist and less about a prosperous future life, as it is intended today. However, it’s an interesting quote to ponder as it relates to monetary success since oysters are known to be notoriously stubborn to open, and one must use sharp tools and a strong hand to pry the shells apart. Indeed, if one is especially lucky, there might be a rare pearl inside.
Let’s fast forward 250 years and share the story of the 19th-century Black activist, abolitionist and entrepreneur George T. Downing. His father was Thomas Downing, born in 1791 in Virginia to parents who had been recently freed from slavery, taking their new surname from their former master. The former slave holder, turned ardent Methodist, took young Thomas under his wing and employed him as a church caretaker, while providing a tutor for him. Thomas learned refined manners and often served the leading families of Virginia while under Mr. Downing’s employ. Thomas ultimately relocated to Philadelphia where he met his wife, a free Black woman Rebecca West, and they started a family with George being the eldest. They soon moved further north, and the senior Downing made his living by cultivating oyster beds and shucking oysters. In 1825, he purchased a tavern in Manhattan which eventually grew into an elegant oyster house covering many blocks. Oysters and hard work made Thomas, nicknamed “the Oyster King,” a wealthy man by middle age. He was also active in the first African-American Episcopal Church which added to his stature.
A pearl in the oyster
As a child growing up in New York City in the early 1800s, the younger Downing, George, enjoyed more privileges than many other Black children of the time and was a protective defender of bullied children. During this time, thanks to his father no doubt, he met the Marquis de Lafayette when the French-born General toured the states. His early activism started as a young teen when Downing organized a literary society of his peers which had racial equity at its heart: they refrained from celebrating the Fourth of July as a holiday, and they believed that the Declaration of Independence was a pétard mouillé (aka a “wet firecracker”) until Blacks had achieved legal equality in the U.S.
After graduating from Hamilton College in upstate New York in 1841, George married Serena de Grasse. The next year he started his own catering business on Broadway in Manhattan. He worked with the elite families of the city and his early success allowed him to open a summer business in Newport. In 1848 his family moved to Newport, and ultimately to State Street, which was later named Downing Street, in his honor, as it remains today.
In 1854 he built the Sea Girt Hotel, which mysteriously burned down on December 15, 1860. He replaced the building with the Downing Block, part of which he rented to the government to serve as a hospital for the Naval Academy (now the Elks Lodge), which operated in Newport during the peak years of the Civil War. He also established restaurant businesses in Providence.
Downing was a close associate of Frederick Douglass for most of his life, and, for 12 years, he was the in-session manager of the U.S. House of Representatives’ dining room in Washington D.C. In that high-profile role, he made significant friendships that would help elevate his activism later in life.
As for some of his many accomplishments in RI, Downing lobbied tirelessly for more than a decade to desegregate public schools, which finally happened in 1866. He would later lead the repeal of the state’s ban on interracial marriage and lead the battle cry of racial discrimination in the reorganization of the RI militia. In 1865, Downing also was among a group of wealthy Newport men who would purchase the land that would later become Touro Park.
A statue to be erected in his honor
To pay tribute to this astute businessman and activist, RISHM is planning to have the first statue of a person of color in Newport erected in his honor. Fittingly, the current plans are to erect the life-size monument adjacent to Downing’s former property on the southeast corner of Touro Park. In this small but significant way, we are making great efforts to crack the difficult shells of racial inequity and shine a light on the heroic pearls that came before us, and on those that are destined to shine in the future.Charles L. Roberts is Executive Director and Founder of Rhode Island Slave History Medallions, www.rishm.org.