Back To The Future For Westborough Town Seal: Committee

WESTBOROUGH, MA — A group of residents charged with studying the Westborough town seal — which features an icon of slavery-era America — is recommending the town switch to an older version of the logo.

The Westborough Town Seal Review Committee formed after a Town Meeting vote in May 2021. The committee's goal was to study whether the seal needed to be changed due to it featuring the cotton gin — a device invented by Westborough-born Eli Whitney, and one that helped enslave millions of Black people during the 19th Century.

The committee met over a dozen times during the end of 2021 and into early 2022 to get public input, and conducted a survey over the winter that just under 400 residents responded to, with about 59 percent saying they'd like to see the seal changed or updated.

"Many of those who wish to keep the current Town Seal claimed that the cotton gin did not affect the expansion of African American slavery and that Whitney’s invention — and by extension, Eli Whitney himself — should be seen as a source of pride for the town," the committee said in a final report this week. "Conversely, those who emailed or spoke to the committee in favor of changing the Town Seal tended to focus on the fact that African American slavery expanded rapidly in the wake of Mr. Whitney’s invention and/or expressed concern that the presence of the gin on the Town Seal is racially insensitive."

The gin made removing cotton seeds easier, and helped the cotton industry boom in the southern states. In the lead up to the Civil War, the number of slave states in the U.S. expanded from six to 15 by 1860.

Even with a divide over the seal, residents from both sides told the committee they would be OK with reverting to the town's 1913 seal: a simple black-and-white circle with the town's date of incorporation at the center.

The recommendation to replace the Whitney seal with the 1913 version will go back to Town Meeting for a vote. If approved, the seal would be changed as needed — for example, when the town buys a new car or uniform. The Town Clerk also has a device with the 1913 seal that can be used to emboss documents.

If Town Meeting doesn't agree to revert to the 1913 seal, the committee has recommended the formation of a town seal design committee to create an entirely new seal.