Peter William Cassey (1831–1917) was an African-American 19th-century school founder, deacon, minister, educator, abolitionist, and political activist.

[8] He worked as a barber, and in a partnership with Charles H. Mecier they opened a lucrative shaving saloon in the basement of the Union Hotel in Portsmouth Square at 642 Merchant Street, San Francisco.

[11] He became active in the California State Convention of Colored Citizens starting in 1855, which later helped support the school financially and otherwise.

[7][12] On April 26, 1863, he was the first person to be ordained on the West Coast at Trinity Episcopal Church in San Jose.

[11] While Cassey worked in San Francisco, his wife Anna ran the Phoenixonian Institute school.