This Question and Answer was in the Reading Eagle by Darrin Youker. It’s an interesting bit of local history.
How did the Seventh-day Adventist Church come to build the Pine Forge Academy?
Cynthia Poole-Gibson firmly believes in God’s infinite wisdom.
| Reading Eagle: Lauren A. Little Students walk to lunch from a classroom building at Pine Forge Academy in Douglass Township. The Seventh-day Adventist Church acquired land for the school in 1946. |
So, philosophically speaking, it was God’s plan to ensure that the Seventh-day Adventist Church would one day open a predominantly black boarding school in Douglass Township.
Practically speaking, the church bought the land near Amityville for a song in 1946 and has cherished it ever since.
But it’s hard to argue against Poole-Gibson’s take on the matter. As the headmaster of the 150-student boarding school, she is intimately familiar with its history.
The Pine Forge Academy sits on land once owned by Thomas Rutter, who operated an iron forge on the property. Rutter was an ardent abolitionist, and his home and land were used as a stop on the Underground Railroad.
Escaped slaves, heading through Pennsylvania to seek their freedom, had no way of knowing they were passing over land that would one day educate a new generation of blacks, Poole-Gibson said.
But God had a plan.
“I am a firm believer that things do not just happen,” she said. “God, in his wisdom, preserved this land.”
The Rev. Ken Dewalt, a pastor at Hope Church in Amity Township, suggested that the Reading Eagle look into the history of Pine Forge Academy, which he believes is a gem of Berks County.
Pine Forge, when it was founded, was one of nearly 100 religious secondary schools in the nation designed to educate black children, said Poole-Gibson, a 1963 graduate of the school. Today, there are just four, she said.
At the time, there was a greater need for schools geared toward black children because of segregation in public and private schools, Poole-Gibson said.
Members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which has strong roots in Christian education, were looking for a site for a private school when a church member from Philadelphia learned that the Rutter farm was for sale.
The church bought the 575-acre farm, including Rutter’s original manor house, for $40,000.
“That was a deal – and a steal,” she said.
Now, the school draws students from 20 different states and two Caribbean countries.
There’s a strong focus on developing leadership skills, Poole-Gibson said, and while the student body is predominantly black, the school is open to all races and religious backgrounds.
One can only imagine that Thomas Rutter would be proud to know how his property is being used today.
)