The artist William H. Calfee was born in Washington on Feb. 7, 1909. In 1938, he painted the mural entitled First Performance of Edwin Booth. The painting was commissioned by the Department of the Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture to be hung in the Bel Air Post Office. It depicts a performance given by Booth in August 1851 at the Bel Air Courthouse, although it was not the actor's first performance. Such murals were designed to "restore confidence in a people suffering from the effects of the Depression by depicting images of events or scenes of local significance." Calfee studied art in Europe and the U.S. and used his friends and family as models for the mural. His paintings and sculptures can be found in public buildings in several states. He became a professor of art, co-founding successful galleries. He died in Chevy Chase on Dec. 2, 1995.

Source: Edwin Booth: Harford County's Prince of Players by Dinah Faber, Harford Historical Bulletin, Fall 2004.

Compiled by the staff of the Harford County Public Library