Franklin High School Statue: “Benjamin Franklin” - Portland OR

City:: Portland, OR
Site Type:: Sculptures, Art Works
New Deal Agencies:: Arts Programs, Work Relief Programs, Federal Arts Project (FAP), Works Progress Administration (WPA)
Completed:: 1942
Artist:: George Berry
Marked:: Yes
Site Survival:: Extant

Description

From 1939 to 1942, Portland’s Franklin High School benefited from two different Works Progress Administration (WPA) initiatives. One of the projects allowed artists from the Federal Art Project, one of the five independent branches of the Works Progress Administration, to respond to a commission funded by Franklin High School students and alumni ($15,000). Stonecutter George Berry and his assistants sculpted a fifteen feet tall (with pedestal), forty-ton sandstone statue of the school’s namesake. In spring 1942, the “Statesman Scientist” was installed at the north entrance of the school overlooking the athletic field. The pedestal includes several built-in benches as well as the quotation from Franklin, “One today is worth two tomorrows.”

Source notes

Barker, Neil Louis (1996) “The Works Progress Administration in Portland, Oregon: An Historical Narrative and Survey Report, 1935-1942.” Washington State University: Masters of Arts Thesis in History. Pp. 122.

Oregonian (1939) “Work Begins on New Field,” August 15, 1939.

Oregonian (1942) “Olden Dream Comes True: School Dedicates Franklin Statue,” May 9, 1942.

Site originally submitted by Judith T Kenny on January 5, 2015.