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FIRST PERMANENT INSTALLATION OF AN AFRICAN AMERICAN DIGNITARY UNVEILED AT BROOKLYN BOROUGH HALL

Photograph by Laura Geiser
Photo: Borough President Markowitz celebrates the unveiling with Judge Williams’ family. (left to right): Zachary Messinger, Ann Messinger, Chelsea Messinger, Oliver L. Williams, Paula Cline, Daniel Cline, Borough President Markowitz, David Cline, Oliver L. Williams, Jr., Mel Messinger and Robert Messinger.

 Portrait of Justice Oliver Williams delights his family

“It is our greatest source of pride that Brooklyn ’s diversity of races, faiths and ethnicities is unrivalled anywhere in the world,” said Borough President Marty Markowitz . “Three years ago my remarks about Borough Hall’s portraits of “old white men” started a media frenzy. Regrettably, in that frenzy — an important message went unheard. I said then, and I say again today, that as Brooklyn ’s civic center, Borough Hall, including the portraits on its walls, must reflect the diversity that we cherish. We are making this beautiful landmark building more relevant for the people of Brooklyn today while continuing to respect our history. Justice Oliver D. Williams was a trailblazer who devoted his life to overcoming racial divisions in our society. I am deeply honored, and personally thrilled, to give Justice Williams’ portrait a permanent place of its own here in the magnificent courtroom of Brooklyn’s oldest public building — Borough Hall.”

Snow was falling outside, but the strong voices of the Brooklyn Ecumenical Choir of Bedford Stuyvesant filled Borough Hall’s courtroom with warmth. On February 24, Borough President Markowitz welcomed hundreds of Brooklynites to his annual Black History Month Celebration where he unveiled a portrait of Brooklyn ’s first African-American State Supreme Court Justice, the Honorable Oliver D. Williams (1898-1981). Brooklyn-born Shirley Chisholm (1924-2005), the first black woman elected to Congress, and a great Brooklyn hero, was also honored at the celebration with a dramatic reading performed by actor Kaci M. Fannin. “Next year we will unveil a grand portrait of Shirley Chisholm that will be permanently displayed in Borough Hall,” Markowitz announced. “I want to thank Bill Howard and Victor Robles for agreeing to chair the effort to make that portrait possible.”

Judge Williams is the first African-American to have his portrait permanently installed on the walls of Borough Hall since the building opened in 1848. Judge Williams’ children Oliver L. Williams and Ann Messinger beamed with pride as the borough president honored their father. “I know that even though he died in 1981, my father is looking down on this and enjoying it tremendously,” Ms. Messinger said. Brooklyn Artist Donovan Nelson painted the portrait, which was commissioned by Judicial Friends, a statewide organization of African-American judges. The Brooklyn Bar Association Foundation had the portrait framed.

Justice Williams, born in Brooklyn on May 26, 1898 , was the first African-American elected to the New York State Supreme Court from Brooklyn , and the third elected in the state. After passing the bar in 1924, he served on the bench of the Civil Court , the City Court and the Municipal Court. In 1963, he was elevated to the Supreme Court of the State of New York in Brooklyn , retiring from the bench on December 31, 1974 . Throughout his life Justice Williams actively pursued equality and fair treatment for Black Americans.