The statue, which was erected to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Penn’s founding of the colony of Pennsylvania, will be replaced by educational offerings about the history of Native American tribes, the NPS said.
“The proposed rehabilitation of Welcome Park includes expanded interpretation of the Native American history of Philadelphia and was developed in consultation with representatives of the indigenous nations of the Haudenosaunee, the Delaware Nation, Delaware Tribe of Indians, the Shawnee Tribe, and the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma,” it said.
“The Penn statue and Slate Roof house model will be removed and not reinstalled,” the park service said.
“In a separate and future effort, new exhibit panels will be installed on the south site wall to replace the Penn timeline,” it said.
Members of the public were encouraged to provide feedback on the plans through a controlled public forum.
However, a post on the X platform by the Independence National Historical Park was met with an overwhelmingly negative reaction.
Stephen M. Lepore, Daily Mail, January 7, 2024 Posted on January 8, 2024
The Biden administration’s National Park Service is starting a ‘rehabilitation’ process for a Pennsylvania park that incudes the removal of a statue of founder William Penn and inclusion of representation of Native American tribes.
The Deb Haaland-led parks service sent out the request for input on the changes to Welcome Park Friday on their website and in a post on X.
Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania in 1681, was notorious for his amicable relations with the Native tribes of the region. The park was established 300 years later.
The park itself is named after the ship Penn sailed to America and includes a museum dedicated to celebrating the life and contributions of William Penn.
However, the parks service says it wants to ‘provide a more welcoming, accurate, and inclusive experience for visitors.’
That means, according to the request for ideas, an ‘expanded interpretation of the Native American history of Philadelphia.’
Officials said the proposal was put together working with members of the Haudenosaunee, the Delaware Nation, the Delaware Tribe of Indians, the Shawnee Tribe and the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma.
Public feedback has been asked to be submitted to the NPS website starting Monday and running until January 21.
However, many on social media have already given more than their two cents about the decision.
One asked: ‘How about no more of our tax money for the US Park Service?’
‘I say a bigger William Penn statue. You people are unreal,’ wrote another.