The Biden administration has reversed a call by the Nationwide Park Service to take away a statue of William Penn from a park in Philadelphia. Penn was the founding father of Pennsylvania (named for his father) within the late 1600s and is a revered determine within the state.
(Earlier TGP report on the deliberate removing of the statue posted by David Greyson at this link.)
The Park Service lately introduced plans to renovate the park the place the statue is positioned, Welcome Park, to make it “inclusive” of Native Individuals, even thought the park is constructed the place Penn’s house as soon as stood and is called after the ship, the Welcome, that introduced Penn to the New World from England in 1682. The Park Service additionally deliberate to take away a duplicate of Penn’s house, the Slate Roof Home, in addition to a Penn timeline on a wall on the park. In different phrases, the Biden administration was erasing Penn.
Nationwide Park Service images.
The Inside Division, which oversees the Nationwide Park Service, is led by Biden appointee Secretary Deb Haaland, a radical progressive who’s the primary Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary.
To rejoice LGBT Historical past Month, I joined out of doors advocate and local weather motion icon @pattiegonia to debate how locations like @StonewallNPS assist inform our nation’s full and trustworthy story. pic.twitter.com/XSIGs1qz9z
— Secretary Deb Haaland (@SecDebHaaland) October 2, 2023
Pennsylvania’s Democrat Governor Josh Shapiro took credit score for the reversal, “My team has been in contact with the Biden Administration throughout the day to correct this decision. I’m pleased Welcome Park will remain the rightful home of this William Penn statue — right here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Penn founded.”
My staff has been in touch with the Biden Administration all through the day to right this resolution. I’m happy Welcome Park will stay the rightful house of this William Penn statue — proper right here within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Penn based. https://t.co/awSTpcyrNp
— Governor Josh Shapiro (@GovernorShapiro) January 8, 2024
Apparently Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), who lately stated he’s not a progressive, didn’t situation a touch upon the Biden administration’s proposal to take away the William Penn statue.
Dave McCormick, a Republican candidate operating towards incumbent Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), referred to as out Casey on Monday for staying “silent”, “Bob Casey has been totally silent as the Biden Admin works to strip our commonwealth of its history in the name of “inclusivity.” Casey is simply too weak to guide. Time for brand new management.”
Bob Casey has been completely silent because the Biden Admin works to strip our commonwealth of its historical past within the title of “inclusivity.”
Casey is simply too weak to guide. Time for brand new management. https://t.co/bkgtV0HWtF
— Dave McCormick (@DaveMcCormickPA) January 8, 2024
Casey spoke out Monday night after the Park Service had already caved, “I heard concerns that there were plans to permanently remove William Penn’s statue from Welcome Park. After checking in with the Department of the Interior, I’m pleased to report that there are no plans to remove William Penn at this time.”
I heard issues that there have been plans to completely take away William Penn’s statue from Welcome Park. After checking in with the Division of the Inside, I am happy to report that there are not any plans to take away William Penn presently.
— Senator Bob Casey (@SenBobCasey) January 8, 2024
New Park Service assertion issued Monday evening, January 8:
The assessment of the brand new design proposal for Welcome Park has been withdrawn. No adjustments to the William Penn statue are deliberate. For more information, please go to: https://t.co/XWk0zPbEvl. pic.twitter.com/Ly0aooxXcx
— IndependenceNPS 🇺🇸 (@INDEPENDENCENHP) January 8, 2024
Park withdraws assessment of Welcome Park rehabilitation proposal
Independence Nationwide Historic Park has withdrawn the assessment of a draft proposal to rehabilitate Welcome Park and closed the general public remark interval. The preliminary draft proposal, which was launched prematurely and had not been topic to a whole inside company assessment, is being retracted. No adjustments to the William Penn statue are deliberate.
The Nationwide Park Service (NPS) stays dedicated to rehabilitating Welcome Park because the nation prepares to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026. Upon completion of all the required inside opinions, the park seems to be ahead to participating in a sturdy public course of to contemplate choices for refurbishing the park within the coming years.
The park is positioned on the positioning of William Penn’s house, the Slate Roof Home, and is called for the ship, Welcome, which transported Penn to Philadelphia. The design and development of Welcome Park was funded by the Independence Historic Belief and was accomplished in 1982.
Updates on the undertaking could also be discovered on the park’s web site at www.nps.gov/INDE.
The unique language of the Park Service proposal released January 5 read:
Park seeks enter on the rehabilitation of Welcome Park
The Nationwide Park Service proposes to rehabilitate Welcome Park to offer a extra welcoming, correct, and inclusive expertise for guests. Welcome Park was designed by the internationally acclaimed design agency Venturi & Scott Brown Associates. The park is positioned on the positioning of William Penn’s house, the Slate Roof Home, and is called for the ship, Welcome, which transported Penn to Philadelphia. The design and development of Welcome Park was funded by the Independence Historic Belief and was accomplished in 1982.
The proposed rehabilitation of Welcome Park contains expanded interpretation of the Native American historical past of Philadelphia and was developed in session with representatives of the indigenous nations of the Haudenosaunee, the Delaware Nation, Delaware Tribe of Indians, the Shawnee Tribe, and the Japanese Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma. The reimagined Welcome Park maintains sure facets of the unique design equivalent to the road grid, the rivers and the east wall whereas including a brand new planted buffer on three sides, and a ceremonial gathering area with round benches. The Penn statue and Slate Roof home mannequin will probably be eliminated and never reinstalled. In a separate and future effort, new exhibit panels will probably be put in on the south website wall to interchange the Penn timeline.
The general public is invited to submit feedback on this proposed design for the rehabilitation of Welcome Park for a 14-day interval from January eighth – twenty first, 2024 by means of the Nationwide Park Service’s Planning, Setting and Public Remark (PEPC) at https://parkplanning.nps.gov. Feedback submitted by means of social media, cellphone calls, electronic mail or mail is not going to be accepted. All public feedback should be acquired by means of PEPC by midnight Sunday, January twenty first, 2024.
For details about Independence Nationwide Historic Park, go to the park web site at www.nps.gov/INDE.
Background from a Pennsylvania Historic Society essay by Cary Hutto (excerpt):
William Penn and the primary settlers of Pennsylvania sailed throughout the Atlantic Ocean on the ship Welcome. The Welcome departed from Deal, England, on August 31, 1682, and arrived on the mouth of the Delaware River (now New Fort, Delaware) on October 27, 1682, finishing the Atlantic crossing in 57 days which was sluggish by seventeenth century requirements. The voyage didn’t finish with out incident; practically one-third of all of the ship’s passengers died of smallpox. On October 28, 1682, the ship anchored at Upland (now Chester, Pennsylvania) on the positioning that had been chosen by Thomas Holme, Penn’s surveyor normal.
King Charles II of England granted Penn possession of the land as a way to repay a big debt to Penn’s father, Admiral Sir William Penn. The youthful Penn had first referred to as the world Sylvania (Latin for woods), which the king later modified to Pennsylvania in honor of the elder Penn. One of many first counties of Pennsylvania was named Bucks County after Buckinghamshire (Bucks) in England, Penn’s household seat and the hometown of lots of the first settlers.
William Penn (October 14, 1644–July 30, 1718) based the Province of Pennsylvania, the British North American colony that grew to become the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The democratic rules that he set forth served as an inspiration for the US Structure. Forward of his time, Penn additionally printed a plan for a United States of Europe, “European Dyet, Parliament or Estates.”
…Penn was educated at Chigwell Faculty, Essex the place he had his earliest non secular expertise. Thereafter, younger Penn’s non secular views successfully exiled him from English society — he was despatched down (expelled) from Christ Church, Oxford for being a Quaker, and was arrested a number of instances. Among the many most well-known of those was the trial following his arrest with William Meade for preaching earlier than a Quaker gathering. Penn pleaded for his proper to see a replica of the fees laid towards him and the legal guidelines he had supposedly damaged, however the choose, the Lord Mayor of London, refused — though this proper was assured by the legislation. Regardless of heavy strain from the Lord Mayor to convict the lads, the jury returned a verdict of “not guilty”. The Lord Mayor then not solely had Penn despatched to jail once more (on a cost of contempt of court docket), but additionally the complete jury. The members of the jury, combating their case from jail, managed to win the proper for all English juries to be free from the management of judges. (See jury nullification.)The persecution of Quakers grew to become so fierce that Penn determined that it will be higher to attempt to discovered a brand new, free, Quaker settlement in North America. Some Quakers had already moved to North America, however the New England Puritans, particularly, have been as unfavourable in direction of Quakers because the individuals again house, and a few of them had been banished to the Caribbean.
…Though Penn’s authority over the colony was formally topic solely to that of the king, by means of his Body of Authorities he applied a democratic system with full freedom of faith, truthful trials, elected representatives of the individuals in energy, and a separation of powers — once more concepts that will later type the premise of the American structure. The liberty of faith in Pennsylvania (full freedom of faith for everyone who believed in God) introduced not solely English, Welsh, German and Dutch Quakers to the colony, but additionally Huguenots (French Protestants), Mennonites, Amish, and Lutherans from Catholic German states.
Penn had hoped that Pennsylvania can be a worthwhile enterprise for himself and his household. Penn marketed the colony all through Europe in numerous languages and, because of this, settlers flocked to Pennsylvania. Regardless of Pennsylvania’s fast development and variety, the colony by no means turned a revenue for Penn or his household. The truth is, Penn would later be imprisoned in England for debt and, on the time of his loss of life in 1718, he was penniless.
