The William Penn Lectures were put together by the Young Friends Movement of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. George A. Walton was a member of the organization, and gave this lecture. In it, among other principles, he discusses the impact labor has on the current world. He advocates for living faith in one's work, and to ensure that it has meaning and value to both the material and the spiritual realms. Walton gave this speech in 1916 and was responding to many changes in society at the time, although his work still resonates today. George A. Walton was born in 1883. He went on to become the headmaster of the George School in 1912, a Quaker boarding school, where he served until 1948. In 1969, Walton passed away. His papers are held by Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College.