At a time when just prior to America entering World War Two and many Alumni heading off to "make the world safe for democracy", President Roosevelt gave his famous speech that spurned Norman Rockwell to use his unique artistic skills to bring those "Four Freedoms" to life. It also motivated many other artists to create their own vision of the "Four Freedoms" paintings and statues. There are many examples of the "Four Freedoms". One example resided at PHS for many years before being taken down. Here's a little story about how the "Four Freedoms" came to be. Many thanks as the information in this story was taken from the National Archives and other articles. Enjoy!

FDR's famous "Four Freedoms" speech Why was that important to PHS?

A renowned artist left PHS his version of "Four Freedoms"

From the National Archives-

January 6, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt what became known as his "Four Freedoms Speech". He spoke about his vision of extending American values throughout the world. Times were dangerous was Europe was being engulfed in war and soon America would join the fight.

Very early in his political career, as state senator and later as Governor of New York, President Roosevelt was concerned with human rights in the broadest sense. During 1940, stimulated by a press conference in which he discussed long-range peace objectives, he started collecting ideas for a speech about various rights and freedoms.

In his 1941 State of the Union Address to Congress, with World War II underway in Europe and the Pacific, FDR asked the American people to work hard to produce armaments for the democracies of Europe, to pay higher taxes, and to make other wartime sacrifices. Roosevelt presented his reasons for American involvement, making the case for continued aid to Great Britain and greater production of war industries at home. In helping Britain, President Roosevelt stated, the United States was fighting for the universal freedoms that all people deserved.

At a time when Western Europe lay under Nazi domination, Roosevelt presented a vision in which the American ideals of individual liberties should be extended throughout the world. Alerting Congress and the nation to the necessity of war, Roosevelt articulated the ideological aims of the war, and appealed to Americans' most profound beliefs about freedom.

In his Four Freedoms Speech, Roosevelt proposed four fundamental freedoms that all people should have. His "four essential human freedoms" included some phrases already familiar to Americans from the Bill of Rights, as well as some new phrases: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. These symbolized America's war aims and gave the American people a mantra to hold onto during the war.

As America became more engaged in World War II, painter Norman Rockwell created a series of paintings illustrating the four freedoms as international war goals that went beyond just defeating the Axis powers. In the series, he translated abstract concepts of freedom into four scenes of everyday American life. Although the federal government initially rejected Rockwell's offer to create paintings on the four freedoms theme, the images were publicly circulated when The Saturday Evening Post, one of the nation's most popular magazines, commissioned and reproduced the paintings. After winning public approval, the paintings served as the centerpiece of a massive U.S. war bond drive and went on a national tour to raise money for the war effort.

After the war, the four freedoms appeared again, embedded in the Charter of the United Nations.

From Wikipedia-

Norman Rockwell created his interpretation of the "Four Freedoms".

Rockwell's Four Freedoms—Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear—were first published on February 20, February 27, March 6, and March 13, 1943, along with commissioned essays from leading American writers and historians (Booth Tarkington, Will Durant, Carlos Bulosan, and Stephen Vincent Benét, respectively). They measure 45.75 by 35.5 inches (116.2 by 90.2 cm) except for Freedom of Worship which measures 46.0 by 35.5 inches (116.8 by 90.2 cm). Rockwell used live models for all his paintings. In 1935, he began using black-and-white photographs of these live models extensively, although he did not publicly reveal he did so until 1940. The use of photography expanded the possibilities for Rockwell who could ask models to pose in positions they could hold only for brief periods of time. He could also produce works from new perspectives and the Four Freedoms represented "low vantage point of Freedom of Speech, to close-up in Freedom of Worship, midrange in Freedom from Fear, and wide angle in Freedom from Want".

Norman Rockwell's "Four Freedoms"

Pleasant Ray McIntosh
and Peoria High School

Rockwell went on to produce his "Four Freedoms" plus other war related themes and was followed by many others. Peoria had major wartime industries and from time to time there were War Bond drives. It was around this time in 1943 that a man named Pleasant Ray McIntosh created his vision of the "Four Freedoms". McIntosh had attended and graduated from Bradley in Peoria. He went on to several other art related jobs around the world before landing back at Bradley to become its' Art Director. His son was a student at Peoria High School.

His "Four Freedoms" depiction was used to promote a war bond drive. When the drive was concluded, he at some point donated his paintings to Peoria High School. For years they hung in one of the main stairwells as shown in a picture from the 1949 Crest. This picture below was the only picture I could find when researching the article. When the school added the Science Wing and new gym in 1962, the stairwells were modified or moved. The paintings at some point were moved to the west study hall. They were hanging during my time at PHS. That was 1978. The paintings were removed at some point and stored. The Alumni Association had many members inquiring about the pictures and where they might be within the school. Luckily they were located but in disrepair. The Peoria Riverfront Museum has these paintings in safe storage.