Story and photos by LaTasha Hewitt
In the 1940s, Elder John H. Wagner, Sr., former Allegheny Conference president, envisioned a boarding school in the North where African-American high school students could attend without the racial issues of schools in the South. After purchasing the 575-acre Rutter Estate near Pottstown, Pa., the conference opened Pine Forge Institute on September 9, 1946, with 90 students.
Last weekend the school, now Pine Forge Academy (PFA), celebrated Alumni Weekend and 70 years of existence during the weekend themed “Legacy of Excellence.”