Franklin Field serves as home for the University of Pennsylvania's football, track and field, lacrosse, and field hockey teams. It was originally built and dedicated in 1895 for the first running of the Penn Relays, one of the oldest and most prestigious track and field events in the country. The permanent field construction, including Weightman Hall gymnasium and the grandstands, was designed by Frank Miles Day & Brother and erected from 1903 to 1905. Named after Benjamin Franklin, the founder of the University of Pennsylvania, it is oldest still operating college football stadium in the nation and notably hosted the first radio broadcast of a football game in 1922 and the first television broadcast in 1939. The stadium was also the first in the country to feature a scoreboard and the first to have an upper deck, marking it as a pioneer in stadium design. Franklin Field was the home of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1958 to 1970, including the 1960 NFL Championship Game, where the Eagles defeated the Green Bay Packers. In addition to sports, it has hosted various notable events, including President Franklin D. Roosevelt's acceptance speech for the 1936 Democratic nomination.
The University of Pennsylvania, commonly referenced as Penn or UPenn, is a private Ivy League research university. It is one of nine colonial colleges, established in 1740 by Benjamin Franklin, who first convened the board of trustees in 1749, arguably making it the fifth-oldest institution of higher learning in the country. The current core comps covers 299 acres in a contiguous area of West Philadelphia's University City, with the older heart comprising the University of Pennsylvania Campus Historic District. The university currently has four undergraduate schools serving approximately 10,000 students and 12 graduate and professional schools, serving another approximately 13,000 students.
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