5901-33 Germantown Avenue
Germantown High School

Public Schools, Box 1, f. 8
Germantown Historical Society

A description of a panel, H. Courey Richards, designer:

"Allegorical, in 2 parts with symbols that would prove of help and inspiration to both boys and girls, with a central figure (Guardian Angel) in sympathy with both. Guardian angel watching over the future of the pupil. This figure is seated in a throne chair with wings outspread at her left is seated the figure of a young girl who is holding a book, but she is not looking at the book; she has reached the time when the books can be cast aside and she has raised her eyes from her studies and has caught the first glimpse of the golden future which lies before her. The guardian spirit, with a full realization of the trials that beset her future path has thrown her arm around the shoulder of the young girl in the attitude of protection. To the right of the central figure is seated a boy on the threshold of young manhood. He also has passed his student days and his books lie strewn around his seat discarded. His attention, however, is not so much attracted to his future as it is to the model of the engine he holds in his lap. The engine is to symbolize the creative and inventive characteristics of the male. The guardian spirit has also placed her hand in an attitude of encouragement, inspiring him to noble ambitions. The field of the panel facing the girl is filled first with the family group representing eugenics and two draped figures, representing music and education, the two noble fields of endeavor that have always been open to women. The figures facing the boy represent the Arts, including architecture, sculpture, painting, medicine and law, and there is also a figure representing agriculture."

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