Academy Celebrates 75 Years at Founders’ Day Ceremony

Story by Tracey Jackson

In honor of its 75th anniversary, Pine Forge Academy (PFA) held its first virtual Founders’ Day Awards Ceremony earlier this year. The celebration honored the vision and leadership of the founding pioneers, faculty, staff, administration, students and alumni, who sought to make Christian education safe and accessible for African-American students.

In 1945, John H. Wagner, Sr., newly elected Allegheny Conference president, resurrected J. L. Moran’s original idea to begin a Seventh-day Adventist boarding school in the north. The conference purchased a 575-acre piece of rural land outside of Pottstown, Pa., with a down payment contribution from Grace Kimbrough, a member of the Ebenezer church in Philadelphia.

After its purchase in December 1945, the conference made aggressive plans for a school year to begin in September 1946. Immediately, the slogan, “Heed the call: A school by Fall!” rang throughout the conference, rallying members to raise funds
for the opening of Pine Forge Institute, later named Pine Forge Academy.

The Allegheny Conference elected Moran to serve as the first principal. In the September 9, 1946, issue of the Visitor, Moran reports, “School is now open and filled to capacity with students from California, Wyoming, Indiana, Michigan, Massachusetts, Maine, New York and South Carolina as well as every part of the Allegheny Conference. ... All the young people seem to be happy at Pine Forge.”

PFA prospered academically and spiritually at the end of the first year, 10 of the original 90 students had been baptized, and more than 500 people gathered for the first commencement service to witness six graduates receive their diplomas.