HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) – The Historic Huntsville Foundation and the City of Huntsville unveiled a new historic exhibit, “Brick by Brick: The Legacy of Henderson & Daniel Brandon.”

The exhibit is located at Harrison Brothers Hardware in downtown Huntsville. It features the family’s journey from enslavement to freedom and their journey to becoming one of the most successful Huntsville Black-owned businesses in the post-Reconstruction Era.

The Historic Huntsville Foundation Director Donna Castellano says that she hopes this exhibit will highlight the Black community’s contribution to Huntsville.

“That contribution has not been properly acknowledged in any way,” Castellano said. “There is a debt there that needs to be paid, but this is a down payment on that. We want Harrison Brothers to be a beacon for everyone to come and look for their history.”

Henderson used his skills as a brick mason to purchase his freedom and establish his family’s business. He then went on to build some of Huntsville’s earliest structures, three of which are still standing.

Henderson eventually brought his son Daniel into the family business.

Castellano said this family laid the foundation of Huntsville. She hopes there is one main takeaway for viewers of the exhibit.

“I hope that they walk away with the sense of understanding and almost reverence in terms of what members of the black community and all of the various ways Huntsvillians have contributed to Huntsville history,” Castellano said.

The exhibit is free and open to the public. To learn more about the Brandon family, click here.

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