William Penn -- CANCELED

 

     William Penn, Quaker writer, activist, and founder of Pennsylvania was also a slave owner, although he was an advocate for the humane treatment of slaves (if there were such a thing).  For 55 years his name was used on a Quaker program located on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC – William Penn House.

      In 1966, the Quaker lobbying organization known as the Friends Committee on National Legislation invited the heads of the Quaker United Nations Office in New York to establish William Penn House.  FCNL was overwhelmed by requests for education, training, and lobbying opportunities for those concerned about the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement.

    Bob and Sally Cory moved to Washington, a rowhouse five blocks from the U.S. Capitol was acquired, seminars and training workshops began to occur, and housing was provided for the peace advocates who attended them and who otherwise arrived in Washington to take action on the issues.

     At first, the Corys lived on the premises of WPH, but eventually bought a small house down the street.  William Penn House was established “under the care” of Friends Meeting of Washington, the Quaker congregation in the city.  This was done to claim non-profit status.

     This month marks the opening of “Friends Place on Capitol Hill.”  The name of William Penn is stricken, because he owned slaves, $2 million worth of renovations to the 105 year-old building is due to be completed, and the FCNL Education Fund now owns and manages the property and program.  Friends Place, according to its newsletter, is “a new Quaker learning center and guesthouse that will promote civic engagement of young people.”

      Friends Place has a staff of three or four people doing the job I did for nine years as Executive Director of William Penn House from 1987 until 1996. 

      It seems as if things have gone full-circle, with FCNL now undertaking what it gave up trying to do all those years ago.  Times change, needs adjust, and ways of accomplishing goals are re-evaluated.

      During my tenure, William Penn simply was a name for the program, and I can think of only two days in those nine years when there was any focus on him.  Each time there was someone impersonating him.  Once was an anniversary open house, and once was a program intended to raise funds that was held at the Washington National Cathedral.  Otherwise, neither I nor anyone else gave much thought to the man.  We did not even have a portrait of him in the building, but FCNL decided he no longer was worthy of recognition. 

     When I first heard of all of this I was not quite sure what to think.  Those nine years were very difficult, and many memories came flooding back as I reflected on them.  I cannot remember or count all of the people who passed through the doors in those days, nor can I recall all of the programs I planned for visiting groups on topics such as the arms race, U.S.-Soviet relations, economic justice, hunger and poverty, racial justice, international human rights, and the environment.

       Some were, of course, more memorable than others.  I have shared the names of many of the prominent people I was able to engage as speakers for the seminar groups and workshops, and I feel blessed to have met them.  Others whose names are not widely known provided just as much meaningful interaction with those who came to WPH.  Many visits to meet with U.S. Senators and Members of Congress occurred, and I worked to provide opportunities for consideration of all sides of a given issue.     

       

       Guests coming to WPH for their own purposes ranged from the interesting and inspiring to the downright weird.  I actually threw out a group of Russians who were visiting through an exchange program with American University after members of the group violated house rules against drunkenness and other behaviors.

        I planned workcamp experiences for some of our groups, linking them with homeless shelters, soup kitchens, food pantries and the like during their time in Washington, We hosted groups such as the Congressional Hunger Fellows who called together activists from around the country for training prior to sending them out to work on the issues.  I arranged valuable learning opportunities for our interns who came for one-year terms, finding part-time positions for them with non-profits working on issues of interest to them.

         The main difficulty arose my second day on the job when a city construction inspector showed up and told me we were operating illegally since we did not have a Certificate of Occupancy as a “bed and breakfast” establishment.  Of course, WPH was no such thing, but we needed to comply with zoning rules and still get a Certificate of Occupancy.

          This began a two-and-a-half-year nightmare during which I had countless meetings with lawyers, architects, engineers, contractors, inspectors, zoning officials, and whoever else I had to deal with to get it done.  Of course, this also included raising money to pay for it all.  The WPH Board of Directors supported my efforts, but it was mostly on me to get it done. 

          Oh, did I mention I was hired as a nine-month Interim Executive Director following the blow-up of the WPH staff when my predecessor fired the House Manager, several of the interns quit, and then my predecessor was himself terminated?  I began with a staff of two young people who arrived two months prior to my being hired, and a janitor.

           While the city allowed us to continue operating as we tried to comply with the law, there came a point when we actually did have to close down the program for the better part of a year as we worked on the renovations.  It took a personal appeal by me to Mayor Marion Barry to get us over the hump when the rusty machinery of the D.C. Government ground to a halt at one point.  I still get stressed thinking about those days, but it finally got done, and we proudly displayed the Certificate of Occupancy for “Rooming/Boarding House.”  Of course, that had nothing to do with WPH, but the inches-thick book of official D.C. zoning classifications had no category describing our program.  They had to settle on something.  I didn’t care, just so I could be done with them.

            My next trick was to make WPH an actual 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization.  While the Corys were well-intentioned, wonderful people whom I admired and cherished, their original decisions regarding the legal status of WPH “under the care” of Friends Meeting of Washington did not fly.  We could not really claim that donations to the cause were tax-deductible, and we could not really avoid paying taxes on our income, although both of those situations were allowed to exist for over 20 years.

             So, it was back to lawyers, city and federal tax officials, and others germane to the cause, until finally I got the status officially changed to what it should have been all along.  Again, more stress just thinking about it.

             Meanwhile, staff members turned over regularly, seminar groups came and went, issues confronting the nation changed, programs were planned, other crises occurred (lightning strikes, staffer suicide, armed robbery, boiler blowout, roof leaks, you name it), and my nine-month interim period somehow turned into nine years. At the time of my departure I had the second-longest tenure as Executive Director, after founder Bob Cory.  I finally burned out, though, and simply could continue no longer.

             As I said, it was an extremely difficult job and time, and I was glad and relieved when I drove down East Capitol Street after my last day, having turned in my keys and heading home.  It was a great experience in many aspects, as I became familiar with the ways of the Religious Society of Friends and met some extraordinary people.  Obviously, I learned a lot, and accomplished some important goals for the organization, holding it together following a major upheaval and through some pretty lean times.

            There were physical and emotional tolls, though, as we constantly struggled with finances, and faced so many challenges while simply trying to do some good.  There were sleepless nights along the way, a lot of frustration, and a sense of always trying to keep WPH from falling apart.  Fortunately, it did not happen on my watch.

            Now, it is Friends Place on Capitol Hill, William Penn is scorned, and things are back to where they were before the Corys ever left New York.  After all that we went through so long ago, with many of the WPH board members, Bob and Sally Cory, and some of my staff now deceased, and all the interns scattered to the wind who knows where, I no longer have any association with the program.  I doubt few people care about or even remember those nine years of the story. 

             The work of Friends Place, though, is relevant and very important, and I wish them nothing but tremendous success, with the hope that their experience is much smoother than was mine.