Martha Ann Boles aka Madame Bell was a fortune teller and clairvoyant physician that lived in Grand Rapids for all of her adult life. Martha was born in Cinncinati in 1827, she quickly moved to Grand Rapids after marrying her first husband, Jerry Bell. Martha's impact on Grand Rapids was important as she is one of the few recorded African American herbalists in the city at the time. Many Black, immigrant, and working class communities would hire her for ailments, spiritual workings, curse, and herbal medicine, she did not discriminate when it came to clients. Offering affordable price points of 10, 15, and 25 cents. This mural is a celebration of Martha's life as well as a representation of Black spiritualism in GR during the 1800s. Martha's life is a representation of how working class African Americans survived during a time when medical care was limited, and de facto segregation was present.
