Upon Further Review...
The William Penn statue will not be leaving Welcome Park.
That was fast.
On Jan. 5, the National Park Service issued a press release stating the William Penn statue in Philadelphia’s Welcome Park, along with a model of Penn’s home, would be removed to create “a more welcoming, accurate, and inclusive experience for visitors.”
The decision seemed especially odd since Welcome Park sits on the site of Penn’s homestead and is named after his ship, Welcome.
The National Park Service also posted a link where people could share their ideas for the revamped park. According to some people who tried to access it on Monday, the link was not working.
Yesterday, Jan. 8, the National Park Service issued another press release, stating in part:
Independence National Historical Park has withdrawn the review of a draft proposal to rehabilitate Welcome Park and closed the public comment period. The preliminary draft proposal, which was released prematurely and had not been subject to a complete internal agency review, is being retracted. No changes to the William Penn statue are planned.
One has to ask, who is sending out press release drafts without internal reviews? Or could it be that initial feedback from the public was so negative, the National Park Service had no choice but to quickly scrap the plan?
Either way, the founder of Pennsylvania is for now safe on his perch inside Welcome Park.
3
I wondered what was going on. I tried several times to access the comment link, and it just wasn't among those on their list. I found the press release on the NPS site and followed that link, no-go (however for those in the Cleveland area who are interested, there is something planned for the Cuyahoga Valley NP that is). This decision directly impacts me as my ancestor, Reiner Tysen/Theissen/Tyson) and his family came to Pennsylvania upon Penn's invitation in 1683 as they were German Quakers and wanted religious freedom and as ironworkers had skills he wanted in the building of the colony. Cancellation of ancestors by the National Park Service was not good.
The original decision was more than"odd". It raised the question of whether bias against "old white men" was at play.