Proposal to remove William Penn statue from Philadelphia park results in angry outcry

UPDATE: National Park Service walks back plan to remove William Penn statue at Welcome Park in Philadelphia

A proposal to renovate and redesign a Philadelphia park has some members of the state GOP, as well as many online commenters, up in arms, mainly because it involves removing a statue of William Penn.

The National Park Service unveiled its proposal on Jan. 5 to make Welcome Park a “more welcoming, accurate, and inclusive experience for visitors.”

The redevelopment would offer an “expanded interpretation of the Native American history of Philadelphia” as well as a new planted buffer on three sides, and a ceremonial gathering space with circular benches.

Several elements of the park would remain, such as the city street grid. However, the statue of Penn and a model of the “Slate Roof House,” where Penn Lived would be removed.

Located on the site of Penn’s home, and part of Independence National Historical Park, Welcome Park was named after the ship, the Welcome, that Penn took from England to the U.S. The park was built in 1982 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Penn’s arrival.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, parts of the park’s granite floor are broken and the area is in general need of repair.

However, some Republican members of the Pennsylvania legislature see this proposal as the latest salvo in the ongoing culture war.

“The decision by President Biden and his administration to try and cancel William Penn out of whole cloth is another sad example of the left in this country scraping the bottom of the barrel of wokeism to advance an extreme ideology and a nonsensical view of history,” Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster, said in a statement.

“This issue is also deeply personal to me,” Cutler said. “The first Cutlers came to Pennsylvania in 1685 on the ship Rebekah, not long after Penn’s arrival in 1682. They came to Pennsylvania because they were Quakers who shared Penn’s view of religious tolerance and peace.”

Cutler said he plans to introduce a resolution to honor Penn and will encourage the National Park Service to rethink their proposal, the Inquirer said.

Scott Martin, R-Lancaster, and chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, called the move “Absolutely disgraceful” on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“As the United States and our Commonwealth are planning the coming celebration of America250, for anyone to think doing this to the founder of Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia, which was the epicenter of freedom and our nation’s founding, was a good idea, is completely absurd,” he wrote.

A social media post from the NPS on the proposal resulted in a deluge of negative comments, with one person writing, “How about no more of our tax money for the US Park Service?”

There are two other statues of Penn in Philadelphia. One is at Penn Treaty Park, while the other famously stands atop the dome of City Hall.

The public is invited to submit comments on the Park Service’s proposal until midnight Jan. 21.