North Philadelphia Heroes

North Philadelphia Heroes by artist Cliff Eubanks is located in the North Philadelphia section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This mural was created in conjunction with the Mural Arts Philadelphia’s job shadowing program for teenagers in which they work with a muralist and receive a stipend and learn the responsibilities of having a job. These teens interviewed the families of local heroes Alphonse Deal and Dr. Ethel Allen to collect information for the mural.

Students from Mural Arts’ Big Picture program also participated in the project. These students surveyed neighbors in the community surrounding the mural to ask whom they would nominate as a “North Philadelphia Hero” and why. The results of the survey also shaped Eubank’s final mural design.

The mural also features the following neighborhood heroes set against a backdrop of a street map of the vicinity of Broad and Girard Streets, where the mural is located:

-On the left is Alphonso Deal, a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the 1980s. Before politics, he was a police officer and started the Guardian Civic League to fight for equal treatment for black officers.

-Next is Herbert Arlene, who served in the Pennsylvania Senate and House during the 60s and 70s and helped found the Pennsylvania Black Legislative Caucus.

-To his right is “Mom” Crippen, a woman who built a social service agency that served the neighborhood for 55 years.

-To the right of center is John Allen, who founded the Freedom Theatre in 1966, Pennsylvania’s oldest African American theatre.

-Next to John Allen is Ann Moss, a Democratic Ward leader who served her district for over 25 years.

-To her right is Judge Raymond Pace Alexander, the first African American to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. He went on to become a lawyer and argued several landmark civil rights cases.

-On the far right is Dr. Ethel Allen, the city’s first African American councilwoman.

In the center of the mural is a candle with a hand behind it, cupping the flame so it doesn’t go out. This symbolizes the legacy that these honorees carry forward which will never be extinguished.

The mural was restored in 2015.