Elmer Brown (b. 1909 d. 1977)

This social realist painter was commissioned through the WPA (Works Progress Administration) by The City Club of Cleveland (the country's oldest ongoing forum of free speech) to create this work to represent its essence of justice, freedom, honor, and the free exchange of ideas. Looking carefully, one finds "icons" representing these ideals: the Magna Carta, The Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, Constitution, scale of justices. Brown studied at the Cleveland Institute of Art, taught at Karamu House, where he and Langston Hughes got to know each other. He illustrated some of Hughes' books and worked for American Greetings Corporation for the last 18 years of his career.