History of the University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. Its history began when in 1740, when a group of Philadelphians organized to erect a great preaching hall for George Whitefield, a traveling evangelist.[1] The building was designed and constructed by Edmund Woolley and was the largest building in Philadelphia at the time, drawing thousands of people the first time in which it was preached.[2]: 26  In the fall of 1749, Ben Franklin circulated a pamphlet, "Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pensilvania," his vision for what he called a "Public Academy of Philadelphia".[3] On June 16, 1755, the College of Philadelphia was chartered, paving the way for the addition of undergraduate instruction.[4]: 13 

  1. ^ see second footnote 9 in Extracts from the Benjamin Franklin published Pennsylvania Gazette, (January 3 to December 25, 1740) – Founders Online https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-02-02-0065 Archived August 26, 2023, at the Wayback Machine "Note: The annotations to this document, and any other modern editorial content, are copyright the American Philosophical Society and Yale University. All rights reserved."
  2. ^ Montgomery, Thomas Harrison (1900). A History of the University of Pennsylvania from Its Foundation to A. D. 1770. Philadelphia: George W. Jacobs & Co. LCCN 00003240.
  3. ^ Friedman, Steven Morgan. "A Brief History of the University, University of Pennsylvania Archives". Archives.upenn.edu. Archived from the original on January 2, 2010. Retrieved December 9, 2010.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference WoodHistory was invoked but never defined (see the help page).