July 30, 2017
“MAPPING COURAGE”
by Willis Nomo
This 2008 mural by Willis Humphrey, aka Willis Nomo, at South and 6th Streets is on the side of Engine 11 fire station, and near the southeast corner of Philadelphia’s old Seventh Ward, and tells two tales of the long road to integration. At the west end of the wall sits W.E.B. Du Bois. In 1896 he went door to door across the city’s oldest African American community, interviewing black households and mapping how race, occupation, and lifestyle were distributed. In 1899 Du Bois published “The Philadelphia Negro,” advocating integration and challenging many stereotypes of the day with his research. The east end of the wall is dedicated to three firefighters who lost their lives in 1991, and remembers another major milestone: In 1919, long before fire station was ultimately desegregated in 1952, Engine 11 was the first station in which African Americans were allowed to serve. @willisnomo @muralarts
