TROY – The Rensselaer County Historical Society finds itself with a rare opportunity to acquire a portrait of Peter F. Baltimore who ran part of the Underground Railroad through his First Street barber shop, cut the hair of Union generals and was a leader in the city’s African-American community before and after the Civil War.

A unique watercolor portrait of Baltimore, estimated to have been painted sometime around the late 1840s when he was in his 20s, is available for $15,000. RCHS doesn't have the money on hand for such an acquisition, but is now making a public appeal to raise the funds by the April 24 deadline to purchase it from Antique Associates of West Townsend, Mass., which has the painting on consignment.

“It’s a wonderful image. It’s really rare to find portraits of people of color in this period,” said Stacy Pomeroy Draper, the curator for RCHS.

“In my 40 years here, if this isn’t the most impressive piece it’s one of the top five,” Draper said about the portrait’s significance for the history of Troy and Rensselaer County.

Baltimore’s portrait is an 10-by-8.5 inch watercolor on paperboard. It’s in a 13-by-12 inch frame dating from when the portrait was painted by an unknown artist. On the back of the portrait is written “Mr. Baltimore of Troy, N.Y.”

“He’s holding a piece of paper and a pen or pencil. We know he was literate. Often portraits show a person’s interests,” Draper said.

Troy and Rensselaer County historian Kathy Sheehan explained Baltimore’s portrait will bring to life the story she tells students about his significant role in Troy’s history.

“It talks about the free black community. To see him as a young man and know he was active and involved in everything; it’s everything I talk about,” Sheehan said.

Baltimore’s barber shop was located at what’s now a city parking lot. It’s where members of the free black and white communities mixed. Baltimore helped slaves escaping through the Underground Railroad to head to Canada or to find jobs as porters or whitewashers if they stayed in Troy. His involvement in the abolitionist movement led him to name his son Garnet Douglass Baltimore after Rev. Henry Highland Garnet and Frederick Douglass. His son became Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's first African-American graduate.

RCHS is turning to the public to ask for donations to raise the $15,000 it needs to buy Baltimore’s portrait.

“We don’t have deep pockets for purchases. We spend resources on conservation for items we have,” said Karin Krasevac-Lenz, RCHS executive director.

The last time RCHS learned about the sale of the Baltimore portrait was in 2001, a month after it was sold.

“I was so upset when we missed it the first time,” Draper said. “It’s so rare that something like this would come back up and we would have a second chance.”