State to observe 340th birthday virtually
Pennsylvania's 340th birthday will be marked Sunday with a virtual display of the charter that created Penn's Colony.
The Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission will commemorate Charter Day with a virtual exhibition of William Penn's original charter and other programming from the Pennsylvania State Archives.
Pennsylvania was created when England's King Charles II granted a charter to William Penn in 1681.
Once each year, the archives exhibits the original for a short time.
The charter is four pages on parchment with iron gall ink, with each page measuring an average of 20 inches by 24 inches.
The upper left corner of the first page bears the portrait of Charles II. The borders of each page are embellished with the shields of lands conquered at one time or another by England, including France, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
“The document was given to us in 1812 by one of the lawyers of the Penn family,” said Aaron McWilliams, head of the public services section of the State Archives.
For a long time, he said, the charter was kept in the office of the secretary of the commonwealth, before being put on display in the State Museum.
“It was on display until 1984, when its condition began to deteriorate,” said McWilliams.
Since then, the State Archives preserves the document in a high-security vault, shielding it from strong light and environmental fluctuations.With the state's museums closed by the pandemic, beginning Sunday and continuing through March 12, virtual visitors to the Charter Day 2021 link at the PHMC website will be able to view the charter and find out more about the document.“We're not going to let COVID keep us from celebrating the 340th birthday of Pennsylvania,” said Howard Pollman, spokesman for the PHMC.In normal years, Pollman said of the charter, “We bring it out and display it once a year for a week at the state museum.”But because of COVID-19 closures, Pollman said the PHMC is creating a virtual display of the charter this year.Visitors will be able to view histories and interpretations of the charter.“In addition, they can 'tour' the Violet Oakley murals of William Penn, Pennsylvania's founder, featured in the Governor's Reception Room at the Capitol, explore colonial-era documents or digitally page through more than 45 years of Pennsylvanian magazines for articles exploring all aspects of Pennsylvania's 340-year history, and much more.Sites and museums along Pennsylvania's Trails of History will offer online programs throughout the week. Several sites will come together at 7 p.m. on March 9 for a special Zoom webinar as they present and discuss objects from their collections that relate to the aptly chosen theme of “birthdays and other celebrations.”According to the PHMC, the English were latecomers to the Western Hemisphere. By the time Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1604) authorized Sir Walter Raleigh to establish England's outposts in the “New World” during the 1580s, Spain already had developed a lucrative trade with her colonies in South and Central America.During the 1600s, the English caught up rapidly. Promoters of the colonies of Carolina and New Jersey during the 1660s wanted to reap profits from the sale of land.In addition, there were dissenters from England's legally established church, who wanted to settle in America to avoid discrimination and worship freely.Both secular and religious motives are evident in the founding of Pennsylvania. Proprietor William Penn was a “landed gentleman,” having inherited estates in England and Ireland from his father, Admiral Sir William Penn.Like others of his class, he was caught in an inflationary squeeze. Income from his tenants was fixed by custom, while the cost of living was rising. Penn (and others) saw expansion of their land holdings as a solution to this problem.Nevertheless, Penn was more than a real estate promoter — he was a visionary who dreamed of a colony where people could live together harmoniously. This seemed to him impossible in the Europe of the 1600s, with its frequent wars and almost constant religious discrimination and, at times, intense persecution.For more information or to view the charter on Sunday, visit phmc.pa.gov.
