Honoring the late Dox Thrash, a U.S. Veteran, renown artist and long time resident of the City of Philadelphia, in recognition of his many contributions to the advancement of African Americans in the dawn of the Civil Rights Era.

WHEREAS, Mr. Dox Thrash was born in Griffin, Georgia to Gus and Ophelia Thrash in 1893. Though he quit school after only completing the fourth grade, he nurtured his love of drawing through art correspondence courses. He later cultivated his art skills in 1914 through enrolling in evening classes at the Art Institute of Chicago while working part time as an elevator operator; and

WHEREAS, He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1917 at the start of World War I and served for fourteen months as a private in the 365th Infantry Regiment, 183rd Brigade, 92nd Division, an all –black unit later proudly known as the Buffalo Soldiers; and

WHEREAS, The artist settled in Philadelphia in 1926 and in 1933 at the Catharine Street Branch of the YMCA, held his first exhibit. He later expanded his network through being an active member of the Pyramid Club, a black social and cultural center founded in 1940 at 1517 West Girard Avenue. In 1937, at the height of the Depression, he joined Philadelphia’s Fine Print Workshop, a division of the government sponsored Federal Arts Project, the massive work relief program designed to put thousands of unemployed artists to work; and

WHEREAS, As the Federal Arts Program came to an end in 1941, Mr. Thrash sought employment in the thriving Civil Defense. He was turned away from applying for an insignia painter in the airplane department of the Philadelphia Navy Yard when he was informed that “the job was not available for members of his race.” He later found employment with the Sun Ship Company in Chester, PA and the Philadelphia Housing Authority as a house painter; and

WHEREAS, Although he has remained a familiar figure in Philadelphia art circles since his death in 1965, the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s exhibition

, Dox Thrash: An African American Master Printmaker Rediscovered

is the first occasion that the career of this remarkable artist has been the subject of an in-depth study and that his accomplishments as a printmaker have been fully examined; now therefore

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby honor that late Mr. Dox Thrash a U.S. Veteran, renown artist and long time resident of the City of Philadelphia, in recognition of his many contributions to the advancement of African Americans in the dawn of the Civil Rights Era, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art for insuring that his story is never forgotten.

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