Kennett Square mural celebrates town's role along the Underground Railroad

Every time Megan Hyman, 35, of Kennett Square, drives past D&B Hair Cuttery, her 2-year-old son exclaims, "Look, Ma!"

What caught young Matthew's eye is a nearly finished mural that covers the side wall of the two-story downtown barbershop.

The dominant image is of Harriet Tubman, a heroine of the Underground Railroad, in a setting that also celebrates the borough's role in the abolitionist movement of the mid-1800s.

The force behind the painting is Darryl Hall, 55, the owner of the shop at 120 S. Willow St.

"What's it for?" Hyman asked him during a recent visit to get her son's hair cut.

Hall said the intent was educational. "Do you know, some people here don't know who Harriet Tubman was?"

Hall got the idea for the mural - visible to motorists on East State Street - in 2003, when he was inspired by the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program and wanted to create something similar.

He is paying for the work himself and found two artists in Philadelphia to do it affordably.

"For something this size, it could've cost around $60,000 for a local company to paint this in a day," Hall said. But the artists, Dave Mass, 36, and Joey Gothelf, 30, are charging him $5,000. They started in early September and expect to finish this week.

"We've never painted anything historical before, or this big," said Gothelf, who owns a silk-screen business and a clothing line. "It's cool to do something out of my element."

While the artists were spray-painting silhouettes on the mural, Hall trimmed Matthew's hair and told Hyman about the Underground Railroad, which helped slaves escape by traveling through Kennett Square and other areas.

"How do you know all of this?" Hyman asked.

Hall said he was on the board of the Kennett Underground Railroad Center. The organization preserves the buildings and documents of abolitionism, and educates the community about its history.

The group conducts bus tours, which pass a house once owned by a fugitive slave. Mary Dugan, 75, the center's president, said, "I'm thrilled we can include the mural in the tours from now on."

The mural's design has changed from what was originally planned. After the first day of work, Hall decided to include one of the artist's suggestions to add a shadow of a man extending his chained hands above his head. For Hall, it symbolized the break from slavery.

"When I first saw the mural, I was sad to see the figure of the slave with . . . arms in chains," said Hal Lewis, 57, owner of H&R Auto Service in Kennett Square. "But then I realized that I only thought it was sad because slavery itself was sad. I love the mural because it gives a strong message; it's a reminder of our past wrongs."

So far, Hall said, he has received only favorable comments about the mural.

"I think it represents our history colorfully," Hyman said. "I hope I can teach Matthew more about it, and learn more from it myself."