William B. Gould

How this work helped shape America

Born enslaved in Wilmington, North Carolina, William B. Gould developed the skills of a master plasterer before escaping slavery in 1862 and serving in the United States Navy during the Civil War. After his honorable discharge in 1865, Gould settled with his family in Dedham, Massachusetts, where his mastery of the plastering trade provided the foundation for an independent post-emancipation economic life. His career demonstrates how specialized construction skills developed under slavery could be transformed into skilled free labor, family economic stability and participation in the building economy after emancipation.