Students returning to Friends Select School for the 2026–27 school year were greeted by a reminder of William Penn’s Quaker principals of “religious freedom” and “applications of love and justice.” A new exhibition, Friends Select on the Parkway: Continuity and Change, highlights prominent former students, graduations, the school’s coexistence with the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, daily spaces, and school traditions. A timeline featuring major events will be shown to the public on Wednesday, October 7, along with an advanced screening of PBS’s Becoming American: Philadelphia’s Story with creator and co-executive producer Oliver St. Clair Franklin.

Amy Cohen, Philadelphia historian, Hidden City columnist, Friends Select alumna (Class of 1982), and the exhibition’s curator, said the project began as a stroll down memory lane, initially reviewing old yearbooks and recognizing notable figures such as Pennsylvania State Senator Vincent Hughes and Michael Fitts, former dean of University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. The realization that it could become something grander came with Cohen recognizing, “What such an urban setting and mix of people with Quaker values can produce.” Research began in January 2026 as an effort to celebrate the semiquincentennial and the exhibition began to take shape with the help of former development director Christine Jefferson, designer Tina Dougherty, archivist Jacob Todd, and Pamela McCabe, Friends Select’s advancement events coordinator and admission associate. 

Views of the original Friends Select School and grounds in 1933 and 1935. The original building was completed in 1885 and designed by Quaker architect Addison Hutton. | Photos courtesy of Friends Select School

Friends Select is one of nine Quaker schools within Philadelphia County and the surrounding suburbs, tracing its lineage back to the 1689 Monthly Meetings of Friends of Philadelphia. The school follows the beliefs of the Orthodox sect of Quakers whom created schools to “select” and educate only Orthodox Quaker children. The exclusive enrollment was abandoned by 1877, leading to an acceptance of all groups of children regardless of religious beliefs, a practice that continues today. Children enrolled at Friends Select come from 40 zip codes within Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The modern school began its move to what is now the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in 1886. The “Old School” building was built on top of a former Quaker burial ground at 16th Street between Race and Cherry Streets. The “New School” replaced the old building in 1969.

Friends Select School under construction in 1968. | Photo courtesy of Friends

The research for the exhibit took off when Cohen realized that the DNA of the school came in what later became the featured categories. An Alumni Spotlight shows a who’s who of past graduates highlighted through photos during their time at Friends Select and what they look like today. Included are Marsha Levick, cofounder of the Juvenile Law Center, academic and linguist John McWhorter, fencing athlete Maia Weintraub, Amy Cohen, Michael Fitts, and Vincent Hughes. The exhibit focuses on senior year and the student’s transition from childhood to adulthood over the past decades. School Traditions consists of traditions such as weekly attendance at Meeting for Worship, May Day celebrations going back to 1916, fairs, and other jovial events. Timeline covers the history of the school, but, most importantly, recounts the development of the Fairmount Parkway (later Ben Franklin) and how the urban environment outside the school’s front door was changed during the grand boulevard’s development.

Friend Select’s new building was completed in 1968 and designed by architecture firm Kneedler, Mirick, Zantzinger, Pearson, Ilvonen & Batcheler. Pictured here is the building in 1970. | Photo courtesy of Friends Select School

Cohen said the Timeline section of the exhibition is the true highlight of the project. McCabe added that what they did not want were “a bunch of stuff stuck on a white wall.” The work to put everything together in a short time span, however, leaned on Dougherty’s design skills and the team developing a clear concept utilizing archival maps, pictures, and color to bring attention to the various sections. Archivist Todd said that the larger goal was making the history and traditions of the school more accessible to the public, but also to help students who will have continued access to sections of the exhibition after it closes in helping to draw correlations between major events such as World War II, which they will be learning in class and connecting it to what was also happening at the school during that time.

The Benjamin Franklin Parkway viewed from City Hall in the 1950s. | Photo courtesy of Friends Select School

Viewing images like those of the Parkway during its initial phases are the most impactful, especially with how dense the area was prior to its reconstruction, along with seeing the development of William Penn’s holy experiment in relation to how it exists, with the addition of many more faiths coming into being since the 17th century. What is also fascinating is Friends Select’s approach to not overtake or attempt to “convert” people to the Quaker faith, but to encourage ways to live as a better person with ideals. In many ways, the school functions as a museum with the exhibition allowing the general public to receive an overview of how it has and continues to coexist with Center City Philadelphia.

A reception for Friends Select on the Parkway: Continuity and Change and a screening of Becoming American: Philadelphia’s Story will take place at Friends Select School on Wednesday, October 7 from 5:30 p.m. – 8 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. See their website for details and registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/screening-becoming-american-reception-friends-select-on-the-parkway-tickets-1994575265311