A quote widely attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt is, "Character building begins in infancy and continues until death." Everyone's character is a "work in progress." Just as that is true for individuals, it is also true for organizations like Character.org and for frameworks like the "Eleven Principles of Effective Character Education" (11P). Those principles were first articulated 25 years ago when a resurgent character education was becoming a national movement, but nonetheless very much needed direction that was grounded in theory, research, and best practice. The 11P have aspired to provide that. They have been refined multiple times to reflect growth in the understanding of what character is and how to foster its development. The primary focus of this article is the history of the 11P. However, the 11P were expanded in a variety of ways as well as being integrated with other initiatives developed during the course of nearly the past quarter century. Hence, in order to fully document and understand the history of the 11P, the article also looks at the Schools of Character initiative of Character.org, as well as other central developments and initiatives that are linked to the 11P in varied ways.