Vermont welcomed the first portrait of a person of color onto the Vermont State House’s walls on May 5. The portrait of Alexander Twilight (1795–1857), the first person of color to serve in a state legislature (Vermont’s, 1836) and the first person of color known to have graduated from a US college (Middlebury College, 1823), was painted by Katie Runde of Middlebury. It now hangs in the State House lobby, one of the first things a visitor to Vermont’s capital might see. Above. Middlebury Professor Emeritus William Hart, left, speaks at the unveiling about Twilight’s remarkable life, as Gov. Phil Scott listens. Below, the artist with State House curator David Schutz.
