Parkers Hill kids recognised old home in new work

The Canadian Dorothy Stevens was attracted to the North East part of town. The street when she painted it was not known to her. Today we know it as Elliott Street. Referred to as “Back of Town” better known as the North Empowerment Zone, she captured life on the streets during the late forties and fifties.

The return of this work caused quite a stir as the former residents of the area had been displaced. The Parkers Hill Gang showed up in force to be remembered as those children playing at the time.

Today this area has made way for light industry, printing presses, warehousing and a funeral home amongst others and Parkers Hill, seen on the right, has been partially bulldozed. On the left front of the painting was a carpentry shop belonging to the Simmons family. In the background stands a little white building, now demolished, which was used as a school and built by the Friendly Society and was a forerunner to Berkeley Institute. The memories that the residents shared were rich and rewarding. As Bermuda’s sprawl continues to cover up land it seems a shame that a community and neighbourhood had to go through this displacement process. Annie B. Young, Carlton Wilkinson, Llewellyn Emery and Chris Furbert are just some of the Bermudians who grew up here and share such a rich up bringing. Note that when the painting was executed Bermuda’s coral stone roadways were still in
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Tom Butterfield is the director of the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art. You can contact him on [email protected] or visit www.bermudamasterworks.com