The Academy and College of Philadelphia (1749–1791) was a boys' school and men's college in Philadelphia in the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania. The college evolved into the University of Pennsylvania.
Founded in 1749 by a group of local notables that included Benjamin Franklin, the Academy of Philadelphia began as a private secondary school, occupying a former religious school building at the southwest corner of 4th and Arch Streets. The academy taught reading, writing, and arithmetic to both paying and charity students. The College of Philadelphia was founded in 1755, when the academy's charter was amended to allow the granting of advanced academic degrees. The Medical School of the College of Philadelphia, founded in 1765, was the first medical school in North America.
In 1791, the College of Philadelphia merged with the University of the State of Pennsylvania, to form the present-day University of Pennsylvania.
History
Benjamin Franklin was the first president of the board of trustees and authored the constitution for the academy, which was notable for its emphasis on modern languages and science in place of Latin and Greek. The academy opened for the secondary schooling of boys on August 13, 1751, with a charity school opening shortly afterwards.
The building that housed the academy had originally been set up in 1740 as a charity school supporting the ministry of George Whitefield with a hall for him to preach in, although Franklin, who had a hand in it, made sure its use was wider:
References
- ↑ Franklin, Benjamin (2006) [1791]. Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. p. 80. Retrieved Apr 30, 2016.
- 1 2 The Early Years: The Charity School, Academy and College of Philadelphia Archived 2012-02-05 at the Wayback Machine at the University of Pennsylvania Archives, 1972.
- ↑ Borick, Carl P. (2012-08-02). A Gallant Defense: The Siege of Charleston, 1780. Univ of South Carolina Press. ISBN 978-1-61117-168-6.
- ↑ Bell, James B. (2004). "Coombe, Thomas (1747–1822), Church of England clergyman and American loyalist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/67719. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 2021-05-28. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
