The moniker “committee of seventy” is Biblical. Chronicling the Israelites’ journey through the desert, Exodus tells of seventy elders who were appointed to assist Moses in the governance of the people. In 1904, this Committee of Seventy was so named to represent an analogous function: to be the ethical backbone of a city forgetting its conscience. Philadelphia’s City Hall was then infamous, nationally labeled “corrupt and contented.” Public elections were routinely stolen by the dominant Republican Party. Civic organizations demonstrated apathy and impotence towards combating such political iniquity. By structuring itself as “an organization of permanent character” committed to good government, Seventy was immediately relevant and effective. Our first members were prominent civic leaders and professionals like Frederic Strawbridge and Samuel S. Fels; today’s constituents remain leaders of the region’s business, professional, and academic communities.

For more than a Century, Seventy has brought about change through the 1919 and 1951 Home Rule Charters (giving Philadelphians broad powers of local governance), the progressive elimination of most election fraud and intimidation, and the successful transition to electronic voting machines in 2002. Both Democrats and Republicans enlisted Seventy to supervise the 1976 recall of Mayor Rizzo. In the interest of free and fair public elections, Seventy has been recruiting and training volunteers to oversee actual proceedings at polling places; over 400 volunteers participated in the November 2004 election. Our volunteers, members, and contributors represent the full range of the political spectrum.