Artist repairs misspelling of Charles Willson Peale’s name in a mural at SEPTA’S Independence Hall station
The previous spelling of Charles Willson Peale, who is considered the artist of the American Revolution, was missing an "l" in Wilson.
Charles Willson Peale’s name on a mural panel at SEPTA’s Independence Hall subway station is now spelled correctly.
On Saturday, Philadelphia artist Tom Judd went to the Fifth Street/Independence Hall station to correct the spelling of “Willson,” which had previously been “Wilson,” SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch said on Monday. The correction was made a day after The Inquirer published an article about the misspelling.
The image of Peale, who was considered the artist of the American Revolution because of his scores of portraits of major figures of the Revolution, including George Washington, is among dozens of historic images in SEPTA’s station mural, called Portal to Discovery.
The article noted that it was the second misspelling pointed out by public policy consultant and community historian Faye Anderson.
In 2021, not long after Portal to Discovery was unveiled to the public, Anderson alerted SEPTA that the mural included an image that misspelled the first name of the noted abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglass. That misspelling was also corrected soon after Anderson called attention to it.
The mural had been commissioned through SEPTA’s Art in Transit program.
» READ MORE: SEPTA’s new mural has misspelled the first name of Frederick Douglass, prompting dismay
On Monday, Busch said SEPTA ”should have been a bit more diligent in checking things like spellings” when it commissions work “that you might not normally think of as a normal station project.”
“We don’t want to put it all on the artist,” he said. “Everybody involved is working on having a tougher [review process]. If we do find a mistake, we will try to move as quickly as possible.”
Attempts to reach Judd were unsuccessful.