Joe Biden’s National Park Service under Interior Secretary Deb Haaland will remove the statue of William Penn.
The park, located on the site of Penn’s home in Philadelphia, will be “rehabilitated” for an “expanded interpretation of the Native American history of Philadelphia.”
“The proposed rehabilitation of Welcome Park includes expanded interpretation of the Native American history of Philadelphia and was developed in consultation with representatives of the indigenous nations of the Haudenosaunee, the Delaware Nation, Delaware Tribe of Indians, the Shawnee Tribe, and the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma,” a statement from the National Park Service reads.
“In a separate and future effort, new exhibit panels will be installed on the south site wall to replace the Penn timeline,” it adds.
Haaland “made history when she became the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary,” according to a description of the Secretary of the Interior.
“After running for New Mexico Lieutenant Governor in 2014, Secretary Haaland became the first Native American woman to be elected to lead a State Party. She is one of the first Native American women to serve in Congress. In Congress, she focused on environmental justice, climate change, missing and murdered indigenous women, and family-friendly policies.”
