William Penn Charter School - Class Record Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

Page 8 text:

fefs loolz ltaclz .... On january l7. l68f5, at a meeting ol the Provincial Council, it was Proposed that care he Taken ahout the Learning and Instruction ol Youth. to XVit a School ol' Kitts and Sciences. 'l'his proposal was not acted on until IGSSP, when XX'illiant Penn. writing liront lingland to lhontas Lloyd, President ol' the Council. instructed hint to set up a public gratnntar school in Philadelphia, which he prontised to in, corporate at a future titne. ln H589 an agreement was entered into with George Keith to take charge of the school as Head- master, In 1698 an ,-Xct ol Incorporation. which remained in force until Penn's next visit to the colony. was granted by the Pro- vincial Council. XVhen Penn retttrned to Philadelphia. prominent citizens. several ol' whom had been with the niovetnent from the first. asked hitn to redeent his promise to grant the School a Charter lront his own hand. Un the satne day that Penn chartered Philadelphia itsell. he granted S .1 XVilIiznn Pt-nn. Nlzty our sch: ts t ltxtnh Illtllltlllll to his glrztttiess. stand 1' 1 0 ' 1 - tonic' ol Pt-nn 5 s f 'ont IST-l to ff. i t' Oltl School s lotatetl at 8 South 1 SIIKCCI.

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e ccafcon We of the Class of 55 take g1eat pleasule 111 ded1 catlng our yearbook to M1 Blaxton In Cl0lllQ so ue ws 1sh to shows oul 2iPplCCl3ll0l1 not only for the mstruc IIOH u1th Hl11Cl1 he has pl0YlClCll us but also lm the personal IIISIIJIYEILIUII that he has lllllllSl1LCl us By Ins oun qtuet 1nd unplttentlous Illllllltl Nh Braxton has earned tl1e laillllg ICSPLCI ol 1ll ruth ws hom opportumty to shows the lngh CSLCCIII Ill xxlnch ue hold llllll who IS lIlClCCCl a t1ue gentleman Ll U 3 U I u Q 4 4 K n y v n 1 j K 1 - Q .tt x 1 . v 'A v ' s 2 - 1 1 ' R- 2 1 -w A w. he has had contact. YVC are therefore glad to have this , Y . . Q E D , - 4 ,Q 5 1.4 .fl lt ,....lX.,....l Ml Q V I l wi z 1 V 5. 3 ' ' .

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the School a charter. Thus the William Penn Charter School has the distinction of having been chartered on October 25, 1701, the same day that Philadelphia was chartered. By the terms of the Charter, the School was still under the joint care of the Meeting and the Corporation. This plan having proved unsatisfactory, Penn, then in England, determined to place the management of the School upon a broad and independent basis under the sole con- trol of a self-perpetuating body of fifteen persons. The Charters of 1708 and 1711, slightly amending the first, were the re- sult, and, under the last Charter, the school has been conducted up to the present. Among those who were prominent in the management of the School during the colonial period were James Logan, secre- tary to Vlilliam Penn, Robert Proud, his- torian of Pennsylvaniag Charles Thomson, Secretary to the Continental Congress, and Anthony Benezet, the philanthropist. Charles Brockden Brown, the first Ameri- can novelist, was a pupil at the close of the Revolutiong and John Griscom, one of the American pioneers in the study of chemistry, attended the School in the last decade of the eighteenth century. Beginning in 1689 in downtown Phil- adelphia, the School was moved to 8 South Twelfth Street at the time of the reorgani- zation in 1874. Fifty years later, after the sale of the city property and with the help of generous contributions from Overseers and Alumni, the School moved again, this time to the present site, Pinehurst, a tract of twenty acres which had been re- ceived by gift in 1903 from the executors of the estate of the late Clementine Cope. Here the School began its two hundred thirty-sixth year on Ninth Month 23, 1925. By moving to Pinehurst, the School real- ized the ambition which had been ex- pressed by Richard M. Jones, the Head- master from 1918-1935 who brought na- tional reputation to the School. The William Penn Charter School is proud of its heritage and it is truly a fitting memorial to the greatness of William Penn. The School will continue its suc- cessful education of young men through the noble principles and ideals of the Soci- ety of Friends. QPortions of the above were taken from Historical Sketch., Many boys have entered searching for it, and many men have departed having found it.