ABOVE PHOTOS: Wilt Chamberlain, Danielle Jeter, Cody Anderson, Fran Dunphy, Sam Delany, Derrick Pitts and Stephen Cox.
Philadelphia Legacies will be hosting their 4th annual Portrait and Community Awards program on Saturday, September 21 from 5:30 pm – 10:00 am at the Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College. The college is located at 4207 Walnut Street.
Each year, Philadelphia Legacies honors those Philadelphians who have made major contributions to the city by creating beautiful commissioned portraits by outstanding local artists, presenting awards to unsung community heroes, providing historic tours through Philadelphia neighborhoods, and raising money for nonprofits combating poverty year-round in Philadelphia. They also hold networking meetings so that those supporting Philadelphia Legacies can benefit from each other’s resources and wisdom.
This year’s portrait winners are Wilt Chamberlain, Fran Dunphy, Derrick Pitts, Sam Delany, and Stephen Cox.
Chamberlain took the basketball world by storm in the 1960s as the 76ers brought Philadelphia its first professional basketball championship.
Dunphy currently has more wins than any other coach in Big Five basketball history.
Pitts is the astronomer from the Franklin Institute who–through different media outlets–educates Philadelphians about space exploration.
In the 1960s, Delany received every major science fiction writing award and his writing continues to be featured on the world stage.
Cox is the executive director of the Alliance for Minority Participation program (AMP) at Drexel University.
Under his direction, AMP has helped a historic number of minorities obtain their doctorates in the sciences.
Going forward, for their fifth annual celebration in 2020, Philadelphia Legacies is planning a major growth in fundraising.
They will honor three boxers, all champions from Philadelphia, with portraits: Joe Frazier, Bernard Hopkins, and Saad Muhammad.
Muhammad’s mother died when he was an infant.
He and his brother were taken to their aunt’s home, but she couldn’t afford both children, so she told Saad’s older brother to bring him to the Franklin Parkway and leave him there, which he did.
The police found Saad sleeping on a park bench and brought him to Catholic Social Services.
The nuns named him Matthew after the apostle and Franklin because he was found on the Ben Franklin Parkway.
As a teenager, Muhammad had to walk through gang territory, where he was taunted and assaulted.
He discovered the Ninth Street Gym, where he built himself up to the point that he became middleweight champion. He earned millions, but this money ran out by the time he was in his fifties. The former champ ended up living at a homeless shelter on Ridge Avenue.
Philadelphia Legacies plans to raise money for a statue of Muhammad to be placed on the Franklin Parkway to call attention to our homeless problem in Philadelphia. Philadelphia Legacies Week kicks off Monday, September 16th with unveiling of Legacies portraits of Acel Moore and Trudy Haynes at Blockson Library
The awards program is held at the end of an entire week of activities called Philadelphia Legacies Week. It kicks off on Monday, September 16, 2019 at 9:00 am at the Charles L. Blockson Library located on the first floor of Sullivan Hall at Temple University, 1330 Polett Street in Philadelphia.
Attendees will be able to experience the lives and work of communication pioneers Trudy Haynes and the late Acel Moore through a collection of theiriPhiladelphia Legacies Award portraits and other items. The portrait artists will also be in attendance. Attendees will also experience the Blockson Collection of images taken by John W. Mosley of Dr. Walter P. Lomax, Jr. and the vast number of African American doctors from South Philadelphia.
Later, students from across the city and the press will divide up to embark on two of Philadelphia Legacies’ signature tours, featuring visits to key historic sites such as the iconic Church of the Advocate, the House of Umoja, the Marian Anderson House and the Friends Meeting House. Tours are available for groups to book during Philadelphia Legacies Week. For more information, contact (215) 432-2898 or visit: www.philadelphialegacy.org.
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