Leonard Nelson, leader of the Philadelphia School of Art, was born Leonard Louis Nelson in Camden, New Jersey on March 5, 1912 to Anna (nee Bryen) and Morris Nelson. Nelson's father owned several local businesses and provided a comfortable lifestyle for his family, but tragedy struck in 1928 when both Nelson's parents died in their early 40s (his mother from unexplained causes, his father from a heart attack). Nelson was then 16 years old. He and his two sisters lived on trust funds until the stock-market crash of 1929 left them completely destitute.

In the autumn of 1936, lacking both a portfolio and formal art instruction, Nelson won a scholarship to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts* in Philadelphia. Nel...