HR 126 — A Resolution designating October 14, 2025, as "William Penn Day" in Pennsylvania.

PRINTER'S NO.   1014

                  THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA



           HOUSE RESOLUTION
              No. 126
                                                 Session of
                                                   2025

     INTRODUCED BY M. MACKENZIE, GREINER, FLICK, RAPP, HAMM,
        KAUFFMAN, MENTZER, PICKETT, STAATS, JAMES, ZIMMERMAN, HEFFLEY
        AND GILLEN, MARCH 17, 2025

     REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, MARCH 17, 2025


                                  A RESOLUTION
 1   Designating October 14, 2025, as "William Penn Day" in
 2      Pennsylvania.
 3      WHEREAS, William Penn, the founder of this Commonwealth, was
 4   born in London, England, on October 14, 1644; and
 5      WHEREAS, The Province of Pennsylvania was acquired by William
 6   Penn from King Charles II of England in payment of a debt the
 7   king owed his father, Admiral Sir William Penn, for which
 8   William Penn received a charter from King Charles II, dated
 9   March 4, 1681; and
10      WHEREAS, William Penn had initially decided to name the land
11   "Sylvania," which in Latin means "woods," and to which King
12   Charles II added the prefix "Penn" to the name in honor of
13   William Penn's father; and
14      WHEREAS, William Penn invited people of diverse nationalities
15   and creeds to join with him in a "Holy Experiment"; and
16      WHEREAS, His own prayers were that Pennsylvania might become
17   "the seed of a nation"; and
 1      WHEREAS, Shortly after landing in Pennsylvania, William Penn
 2   brokered the Treaty of Shackamaxon, commonly referred to as
 3   Penn's Treaty; and
 4      WHEREAS, Penn's Treaty was historic not just in its
 5   occurrence, but in the mutual respect shown between Penn and
 6   Native American tribes; and
 7      WHEREAS, The famous French historian, philosopher and writer
 8   Voltaire noted that Penn's Treaty was the only treaty with
 9   Native Americans "never sworn to or broken"; and
10      WHEREAS, Many of the liberties and rights that we enjoy today
11   can be traced to William Penn's efforts; and
12      WHEREAS, William Penn had strong faith in a representative
13   form of government, public education without regard to race,
14   creed, gender or ability to pay and respect for the civil
15   liberties of all persons; and
16      WHEREAS, William Penn initiated the first call for a "united
17   states" in his 1697 "A Plan for Union for the English Colonies
18   in America"; and
19      WHEREAS, William Penn established the first constitutions,
20   including religious liberty and tolerance, self-government and
21   taxation only through representation, in modern history; and
22      WHEREAS, On October 28, 1701, William Penn's third revision
23   to Pennsylvania's Constitution was adopted, "Charter of
24   Privileges"; and
25      WHEREAS, The "Charter of Privileges" so firmly established
26   and grounded Pennsylvania as a keystone to the other colonies
27   that it evolved into the outline and later adoption of our
28   American liberties, the Constitution of the United States; and
29      WHEREAS, In 1751, the General Assembly commissioned a foundry
30   in England to forge a bell to properly commemorate and celebrate

20250HR0126PN1014                    - 2 -
 1   the 50th anniversary of William Penn's "Charter of Privileges";
 2   and
 3         WHEREAS, Today that bell, the Liberty Bell, is celebrated as
 4   one of the United States' most famous symbols of American
 5   independence; and
 6         WHEREAS, Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United
 7   States and writer of the Declaration of Independence, duly
 8   recognized William Penn's indelible influence upon the United
 9   States and stated that he was, without doubt, "the greatest
10   lawgiver the world has produced"; and
11         WHEREAS, Public Law 98-516, a joint resolution, which became
12   law on October 19, 1984, declared that William Penn and his
13   wife, Hannah Callowhill Penn, are honorary citizens of the
14   United States; and
15         WHEREAS, In the ceiling of the State Capitol's Rotunda, a
16   composite of three separate letters written in 1681 by William
17   Penn, remind us of how Pennsylvania became the "Birthplace of
18   Freedom" and the "Birthplace of America" when he stated that
19   "There may be room there for such a Holy Experiment. For the
20   nations want a precedent and my God will make it the seed of a
21   nation. That an example may be set up to the nations. That we
22   may do the thing that is truly wise and just"; and
23         WHEREAS, The State Museum contains a permanent exhibit
24   entitled "Memorial Hall" which is dedicated to the vision of
25   Pennsylvania's founder William Penn; therefore be it
26         RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate October
27   14, 2025, as "William Penn Day" in Pennsylvania to honor the
28   life and legacy of William Penn; and be it further
29         RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives proudly proclaim
30   that William Penn is an inseparable and indispensable part of

20250HR0126PN1014                    - 3 -
1   Pennsylvania's history.




20250HR0126PN1014             - 4 -