Benjamin Franklin (on a bench) (1987)

Artist: George Lundeen (1948-)
Location: University of Pennsylvania, 37th Street and Locust Walk (southeast corner)

Sitting on a bench with a newspaper in hand and a pigeon at his side, George Lundeen’s Benjamin Franklin (on a bench) was a gift from the class of 1962 to the University of Pennsylvania in honor of the class’s 25th reunion. (The sculpture’s plaque reads, “Benjamin Franklin on Campus / Created For and Given by the Class of 1962.”) Franklin is shown reading a copy of the The Pennsylvania Gazette, the newspaper that he and Hugh Meredith purchased in 1729. Franklin not only printed the newspaper, but he contributed his own writings under aliases as well. The copy that Franklin is reading is dated May 16, 1987.