Story

 

The year is 1906. VIOLET OAKLEY (32), is working on the most important job of her career. She’s been commissioned to paint 13 murals for the new Pennsylvania State Capitol. This is an enormous honor, as Violet is the first woman to ever receive a mural commission. Previously a book and magazine illustrator like the other Red Rose Girls, Violet throws herself into her largest-ever commission with an ambitious series about the founding of Pennsylvania by William Penn. While researching Penn’s struggles in pursuit of religious freedom, Violet has become an impassioned advocate for religious tolerance through her art. She titles the series The Founding of the State of Liberty Spiritual. Violet receives an award for these six panels.

 

News of Violet’s acclaim reaches WILLIAM MCGRATH, head of the Catholic Historical Society. He is infuriated at Violet’s depiction of unglamorous moments in Catholic history – she even shows the burning of the first English bible! McGrath protests Violet’s first six murals on the grounds that they are historically inaccurate and anti-Catholic. He orchestrates hundreds of letters sent to the Capitol Building Commission from Catholic organizations around the state, demanding that Violet’s murals not be installed. The controversy appears in newspaper articles – even the New York Times! McGrath threatens to stage a public protest.

 

Violet is devastated that her murals have been misunderstood. McGrath is a threat not only to Violet’s career, but to the very ideal she is trying to promote. She is terrified that she may never work again. Seeking support, she contacts WILLIAM STONE, head of the Capitol Building Commission. Stone is wary. He has stuck his neck out by hiring the first female muralist, but he will not tolerate a controversy. Violet is confident in the accuracy of her work, but McGrath has much political sway. Convinced by her confidence, Stone arranges for Violet and McGrath to meet face-to-face at his office in Harrisburg. This meeting will decide the fate of Violet’s murals and, consequently, her career.

 

Violet, using facts from her extensive European research, proves her murals are historically accurate. Well-spoken and full of conviction, she destroys Macgrath's argument that she is the intolerant one. Violet’s murals are installed in the Pennsylvania State Capitol.

 

Oakley would eventually paint 43 murals for the Capitol, and today is regarded as a foremost artist of the American Renaissance and the oniy woman of the Beaux-Arts muralists.