The seated bronze figure at the entrance to the Friends Center in Philadelphia commemorates Mary Dyer, a 17th century Quaker martyr. It is an identical casting of the statue created in 1959 by the Quaker sculptress, Sylvia Shaw Judson, in accordance with a bill of the General Court of Massachusetts. The bill authorized "the construction and erection of an appropriate statue of Mary Dyer, who was hanged on Boston Common in the year 1660 because she chose the death penalty rather than abandon the principles of freedom of speech and conscience." The statue overlooks Boston Common from its site in front of the Massachusetts State House. 

The sculpture at Friends Center was brought to Philadelphia by the Fairmount Park Art Association in recognition of this city's long association with the Religious Society of Friends. The tablet affixed to the base says "A gift of the Fairmount Park Art Association, this statue was erected by the Friends Center Corporation in cooperation with the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Philadelphia in July 1975."

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