Reginald E. Beauchamp
Reginald E. Beauchamp (1910–2000) was an American sculptor known for Penny Franklin (1971), Whispering Bells of Freedom (1976), and a bust of Connie Mack that sits in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
He was born in London and moved to the United States when he was two. After living five years in Rensselaer, New York, his family settled in Philadelphia.
From 1945 to 1975 he worked at the Philadelphia Bulletin, first as director of special events and later as head of public relations and personnel. He was active in many groups, including Rotary International, the Philadelphia Sketch Club, the Poor Richard Club, and the Philadelphia Public Relations Association, which named him the first member of its hall of fame in 1972.
Beauchamp created about 25 public artworks, most in Philadelphia. In 1986, two bronze bas-reliefs of Civil War hero George C. Platt were placed at the approaches to the George C. Platt Bridge over the Schuylkill River. They were funded by Lawrence Griffin Platt and another businessperson; both bas-reliefs were later stolen. A $500 reward offered in 2002 did not bring them back.
He once hung colored ribbons from the statue of William Penn on City Hall to nearby buildings, making the statue look like a giant maypole. In 1967 he proposed a $5 million, 14-story bust of Benjamin Franklin for Belmont Plateau in Fairmount Park, but it was never built.
Among his private works is a sculpture of John Trumbull’s painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, installed at the Philadelphia Protestant Home. He also created "Philadelphia Then & Now," a 1947 painting for the Philadelphia Bulletin’s 100th anniversary, showing the city in 1847 with the modern skyline above.
Beauchamp’s favorite public work was Penny Franklin, a bust of Ben Franklin covered with 80,000 pennies donated by local schoolchildren. It was made to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Philadelphia Fire Department and Franklin’s idea that “a penny saved is a penny earned.” The sculpture was installed in 1971 in Girard Fountain Park. It drew many visitors and was dedicated with a speech by Mary Brooks, then director of the U.S. Mint. A coin box to play a message was not popular and was removed. The pennies aged and the sculpture deteriorated; in 1982 it was coated in epoxy and repainted. By 1996 it had to be removed for safety reasons. In 2007 a new sculpture, Keys To Community by James Peniston, was installed nearby, echoing Beauchamp’s idea by featuring a bust of Franklin and keys from local students.
Beauchamp’s wife, Elizabeth Sarah “Betty” Beauchamp (born Elizabeth Brown), died January 9, 1999. She helped create many of his public works. She had worked for Curtis Publishing Co. in the subscriptions department. Because Curtis would not hire married women, she and Reginald traveled about 100 miles to Pottsville to marry and kept her name out of public license records until she left Curtis to raise a family. They had two sons, Ronald and Roy, and a daughter, Irene B. Brooks.
Reginald E. Beauchamp died on December 20, 2000.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 15:03 (CET).