Benjamin Franklin (Ben) Britt (May 5, 1923 – June 26, 1996) was a figurative, surrealist and abstract painter, and art teacher.

His mother's white employer told her to use his last name and leave town, fearing that the Ku Klux Klan would come after the family.

"[2] Britt grew up in North Philadelphia and attended Dobbins Technical High School where he met his future wife Marjorie who was studying to be a beautician (years later, he and his brother would build a beauty shop for her in the basement of their home).

He was described as a "surrealist painter" in a 1951 news article about an exhibit by the Guild of Allied Arts at the Richard Allen Auditorium.

One such painting was "Soul Brothers," which showed the heads of Black, Native American and white persons signifying that humans are inherently alike.

"[4] In 1969, Britt was commissioned to paint a portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to hang in Joseph Pennell Elementary School in Philadelphia.

[13] Starting in the 1950s, Britt began and maintained a long relationship with the Wharton Centre, a social service agency in North Philadelphia that hosted a youth arts program.

[9][14] In 1952, his painting "Red Moon" won second place in a juried Wharton exhibit, which featured five artists associated with the center.

[19] He also taught at YMCAs in Germantown and Center City, a Salvation Army branch and the Kensington Neighbors United Civic Association.

[2][3][20] The 1950s was a stellar decade for Britt, who won several monetary awards in the prestigious Atlanta University’s "Annual Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture and Prints by Negro Artists."

[28] A photo of "Yield Not" was on the cover of the March 1974 bulletin promoting the show titled "Highlights from the Atlanta University Collection of Afro-American Art."

[31][32][15] In 1965, he won second place in oils in the first sidewalk art show sponsored by the Mayfair Merchants Association in this Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood.

[33][3] His works were represented in Unity Day on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia - set up in the Art and Literacy Pavilion by October Gallery.

"[39] In 1988, he was one of four Philadelphia artists, including Leroy Johnson, in an exhibit titled "Directions 4" at the Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum where he also gave a gallery lecture.

[40][41][42] In 1960, he was represented in the Pyramid Club, a social organization of Black professional men that held an annual art exhibit starting in 1941.

In 2015, an untitled abstract that Britt completed in the 1950s was featured in an exhibition of Black artists at the Woodmere Art Museum.

[43] In 2021, Britt was included in the re-creation of artist Percy Ricks exhibition titled "Afro-American Images 1971" at the National Guard Armory in Wilmington, DE.