Power of the Press

This sculpture located at JFK Boulevard and North Broad St., just outside Thomas Paine Plaza, depicts Benjamin Franklin in 1728 as a 22 year old printer. Franklin believed in the “power of the press.” The Pennsylvania Gazette and the annual Poor Richard’s Almanac were the most famous publications he printed.

Many people don’t know that Franklin’s successful print shop printed Pennsylvania’s first currency. By the late 1740s, Franklin had become one of the wealthiest colonists. Sculptor Joseph Brown, a 1931 Temple University grad, captured Franklin’s energy as a craftsman and entrepreneur, a most positive image of an iconic Philadelphian.

- Collaboration of Steve Ehrlich (photographer) and Lisa Simon (writer)