Image of Thomas White who departed England in the 1720s and lived in Maryland before founding The Academy and College of Philadelphia along with Ben Franklin and others. On August 13, 1751, The Academy and College of Philadelphia opened its secondary school for boys. The institution was merged and later became known as The University of Pennsylvania.
The opening of the academy’s secondary school on August 13th was a radical, secular revolution in early American higher education that broke sharply from the classical traditions of Harvard and Yale. Spearheaded by Benjamin Franklin’s landmark 1749 essay, Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pensilvania, the school rejected the traditional, exclusive focus on Latin, Greek, and theology; instead, Franklin insisted on a practical, Enlightenment-based curriculum taught entirely in English that prioritized commerce, history, modern languages, and mechanical sciences. Backed by forward-thinking trustees like Thomas White, the institution sought to train a new generation of merchants, civic leaders, and innovative professionals, laying the direct structural foundation for the modern American research university.
Image via NYPL Digital Collections, no known restrictions
