Allan Freelon - African American printmaker and Philadelphia art instructor

Freelon was the first African American to receive a four-year scholarship in 1912 to attend the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a master of fine arts degree from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University. In 1919 he became an instructor for the Philadelphia Board of Education and was later appointed Art Supervisor for elementary and then secondary education, a position he held until his retirement. He was also the first African American member of the Philadelphia Print Club. His work was in the prestigious Harmon Foundation traveling exhibition of 1929.