Bringing the Past to the Future
Depicted in this mural are recognizable historic figures like Frederick Douglas (left), George Clymer (in flag), Harriet Tubman (right), and youth from school and neighborhood. American playwright and author Lorraine Hansberry’s name also appears on a book one child is reading. As the author of A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry was the first Black woman to write a play performed on Broadway (A Raisin in the Sun).
George Clymer, who the elementary school was named after, was an American politician and founding father. He was one of the first Patriots to advocate complete independence from Britain. As a Pennsylvania representative, Clymer was, along with five others, a signatory of both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. He attended the Continental Congress, and served in political office until the end of his life. He was the first president of the Philadelphia Bank, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and vice-president of the Philadelphia Agricultural Society.