William Penn (Calder)
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''William Penn'' is a bronze statue by
Alexander Milne Calder Alexander Milne Calder (August 23, 1846 – June 4, 1923) (MILL-nee) was a Scottish American sculptor best known for the architectural sculpture of Philadelphia City Hall. Both his son, Alexander Stirling Calder, and grandson, Alexander "Sand ...
of
William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...
, the founder and namesake for the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. It is located atop the
Philadelphia City Hall Philadelphia City Hall is the seat of the municipal government of the City of Philadelphia. Built in the ornate Second Empire style, City Hall houses the chambers of the Philadelphia City Council and the offices of the Mayor of Philadelphia. It ...
in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. It was installed in 1894. It was cast in fourteen sections, and took almost two years to finish. For almost 90 years, an unwritten
gentlemen's agreement A gentlemen's agreement, or gentleman's agreement, is an informal and legally non-binding agreement between two or more parties. It is typically oral, but it may be written or simply understood as part of an unspoken agreement by convention or th ...
forbade any building in the city from rising above the hat on the Penn statue. This agreement ended in 1985, when final approval was given to the
Liberty Place Liberty Place is a skyscraper complex in Philadelphia. The complex is composed of a 61-story, skyscraper called One Liberty Place, a 58-story, skyscraper called Two Liberty Place, a two-story shopping mall called the Shops at Liberty Place, a ...
complex. Its centerpieces are two skyscrapers, One
Liberty Place Liberty Place is a skyscraper complex in Philadelphia. The complex is composed of a 61-story, skyscraper called One Liberty Place, a 58-story, skyscraper called Two Liberty Place, a two-story shopping mall called the Shops at Liberty Place, a ...
and Two Liberty Place, which rose well above the height of Penn's hat. Since 2019, there have been calls to remove statues in the city which are now considered politically volatile. Due to William Penn being a slave owner, columnist Stu Bykofsky for ''
The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...
'' sardonically wrote: "We can't abide 37 feet of him towering over the city. Take down the statue and snip his name off the commonwealth. We will become Sylvania."


Gallery

PH(1897) p11 STATUE OF WILLIAM PENN.jpg, 1894 - The statue, ready for liftup Al Milne Calder w Billy.jpg, Tacony Iron Works employee, 18-year-old Frederik Ullberg with the head of Alexander Milne Calder's statue of William Penn. File:Williampennleftside.jpg, Left side view of the William Penn statue


See also

*
Curse of Billy Penn The Curse of Billy Penn (1987–2008) was an urban legend and popular explanation for the failure of major professional sports teams based in Philadelphia to win championships since the March 1987 construction of the One Liberty Place sky ...
*
List of public art in Philadelphia This is a list of public artworks in Philadelphia. The Association for Public Art estimates the city has thousands of public artworks; the Smithsonian lists more than 700. Since 1959 nearly 400 works of public art have been created as part of ...


References


External links


''William Penn'' at Philadelphia Public Art
{{public-art-stub Outdoor sculptures in Philadelphia 1894 sculptures Bronze sculptures in Pennsylvania Statues in Pennsylvania 1894 establishments in Pennsylvania Sculptures of men in Pennsylvania Monuments and memorials in Pennsylvania Sculptures by Alexander Milne Calder William Penn