That day he brought a copy of the Qur'an and read from it for this he was sent to the Principal's office. On November 26, 1956, Schempp staged a protest against the school requirement that each student read 10 Bible passages and the Lord's Prayer each day during homeroom.

Solomon, a professor at New York University, has written a book about Schempp and the Supreme Court case entitled Ellery’s Protest: How One Young Man Defied Tradition and Sparked the Battle over School Prayer. Schempp, who is retired, currently resides in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1977, Schempp was part of the Pittsburgh Explorer’s Group Nanga Parbat Expedition which was to be the first American group to reach the peak of Nanga Parbat in Pakistan. He graduated from Abington High School in 1958, and attended Tufts University where he earned bachelor degrees in physics and geology. Schempp was born in Philadelphia and grew up in the Roslyn community of Abington Township. Schempp which declared that required public school sanctioned Bible readings were unconstitutional. Ellery Schempp (born Ellory Schempp, August 5, 1940) is a physicist and is known for being the primary student involved in the landmark 1963 United States Supreme Court decision of Abington School District v.

Abington township v schempp