Answer: Violet Oakley

Violet Oakley was born into an artistic, Bergen Heights, New Jersey family in June 1874. She studied art at the Academy of Fine Arts but transferred to the Drexel Institute (now Drexel University). There she studied under illustrator and author Howard Pyle. With Pyle's direction, Oakley created not only illustrations, but also murals and works in stained glass.

While her talent for illustration helped her win covers of popular magazines, it was her larger works that caught the attention of Joseph Huston, architect of the Pennsylvania state capital in Harrisburg. In 1902, he commissioned Oakley to create murals for the Governor's Reception Room. At the time, it was the largest public commission ever offered to a woman artist. The 14-scene mural she designed was titled The Founding of the State of Liberty Spiritual, and it depicted the story of William Penn and the establishment of Pennsylvania.

Though she was given suggestions on what the mural should depict, Oakley persisted with her original design telling the story of Pennsylvania founder William Penn and addressing his founding ideals of religious and social freedoms and how they played into the state's history. Permission to move forward was eventually granted. Oakley worked on the mural from 1902 until the fall of 1906 when the completed work was revealed to the public.

HSP has several collections of related to Violet Oakley, including a collection of her sketchbooks (#3336), engraved plates for her work The Holy Experiment (#3334), and printed volumes pertaining to her works The Founding of the State of Liberty Spiritual and The Holy Experiment, and The Law Triumphant.