AFA of PA ACTION ALERT
January 8, 2024
Issue
William Penn Gets to Stay for Now!
Details
William Penn, you know the guy who purchased Penn’s Wood from the Native Americans who lived here, almost lost his prominent position in Philadelphia’s Welcome Park which is located on the site of William Penn’s home. The city of Philadelphia was founded by Penn in 1682 and a statue of him sits atop City Hall – at least for now. William Penn wanted Pennsylvania to be a model of religious freedom and a place where its residents could enjoy freedom of conscience. He was a Christian of high integrity and considered Pennsylvania “A Holy Experiment”.
In preparing for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026, the National Park Service (NPS) is in the process of “rehabilitating” Welcome Park, which is named after the ship that brought Penn to Philadelphia. Their preliminary draft proposal, which they now say was “released prematurely” said in part, “The Penn statue and Slate Roof house model will be removed and not reinstalled.” The proposal was then open to public comment for 14 days beginning December 8th. Well . . . the public comment period was suddenly stopped. The NPS is now saying it was all a big mistake – a big misunderstanding. However, that does not change what their January 5th post said, “The National Park Service proposes to rehabilitate Welcome Park to provide a more welcoming, accurate, and inclusive experience for visitors.”
It appears their attempt to remove the founder of Pennsylvania was exposed sooner than the NPS expected and the public outcry was great!
Action Steps
NPS now says, “Upon completion of all the necessary internal reviews, the park looks forward to engaging in a robust public process to consider options for refurbishing the park in the coming years.”
You can still let the National Park Service know what you think about their idea of removing the William Penn statue from Welcome Park. The first thing they should do is read Pennsylvania history!! Email the National Park Service here
You can call the Cultural Resource Management, Program Lead – Marilou Ehrler — at 215-597-7087.
You can also contact them via Facebook
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