Irwin T. Catharine
Encyclopedia
Irwin Thornton Catharine (October 22, 1883 – March 3, 1944) was the chief architect
of Philadelphia public schools from 1920 until his retirement in 1937. Buildings built during Catharine's tenure ranged from Gothic Revival, as in the case of Simon Gratz High School
, to Streamline Moderne
, as in his last project, Joseph H. Brown Elementary School. He died in Philadelphia in 1944.
Catharine succeeded Henry deCoursey Richards as the main school designer in Philadelphia. During 1918 to 1937, his work added 104 new buildings (replacing 37 existing ones), added wings to 26 other schools, and otherwise improved at least 50 other schools.
A number of his works are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
.
Works (all in Philadelphia) include:
If Catharine has notable works outside of Philadelphia, none are listed on the National Register.
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
of Philadelphia public schools from 1920 until his retirement in 1937. Buildings built during Catharine's tenure ranged from Gothic Revival, as in the case of Simon Gratz High School
Simon Gratz High School
Simon Gratz High School is a secondary school located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. An inner-city school, it is perhaps best-known for its famous alumni . Originally operated as a public school by the School District of Philadelphia, Gratz has been run as a charter school by Mastery Charter...
, to Streamline Moderne
Streamline Moderne
Streamline Moderne, sometimes referred to by either name alone or as Art Moderne, was a late type of the Art Deco design style which emerged during the 1930s...
, as in his last project, Joseph H. Brown Elementary School. He died in Philadelphia in 1944.
Catharine succeeded Henry deCoursey Richards as the main school designer in Philadelphia. During 1918 to 1937, his work added 104 new buildings (replacing 37 existing ones), added wings to 26 other schools, and otherwise improved at least 50 other schools.
A number of his works are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Works (all in Philadelphia) include:
- James Alcorn School, (1931), 1500 S. 32nd St., NRHP-listed
- Ethan Allen School, 3001 Robbins Ave., NRHP-listed
- Charles Y. Audenried Junior High School, 1601 S. 33rd St., NRHP-listed
- Bartlett School, 1100 Catharine St., NRHP-listed
- Clara Barton School, 300 E. Wyoming Ave., NRHP-listed
- John Bartram High SchoolJohn Bartram High SchoolJohn Bartram High School is a public secondary school located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.The school, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the School District of Philadelphia.-History:...
, 67th and Elmwood Sts., NRHP-listed - Dimner Beeber Junior High School, 5901 Malvern Ave., NRHP-listed
- Belmont School, 4030-4060 Brown St., NRHP-listed
- Reudolph Blankenburg School, 4600 Girard Ave., NRHP-listed
- Board of Education BuildingBoard of Education Building (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)The Board of Education Building, also known as the Board of Education Administration Building, is a historic building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983....
, 21st St. and Benjamin Franklin Pkwy., NRHP-listed - Edward Bok Vocational School, 1909 S. Ninth St., NRHP-listed
- Daniel Boone School, Hancock and Wildey Sts., NRHP-listed
- F. Amadee Bregy School, 1700 Bigler St., NRHP-listed
- Joseph H. Brown SchoolJoseph H. Brown SchoolJoseph H. Brown Elementary School is an elementary school on Frankford Avenue at Stanwood Street in the Northeast Philadelphia area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, currently serving students from kindergarten to sixth grade....
, 8118-8120 Frankford Ave., NRHP-listed - Laura H. Carnell School, 6101 Summerdale Ave., NRHP-listed
- Lewis C. Cassidy School, 6523-6543 Lansdowne Ave., NRHP-listed
- Joseph W. Catharine School, 6600 Chester Ave., NRHP-listed
- Central High SchoolCentral High School (Philadelphia)Central High School is a public secondary school in the Logan section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Central, the second-oldest continuously public high school in the United States , was founded in 1836 and is a four-year university preparatory magnet school...
, Olney and Ogontz Aves., Logan neighborhood of PhiladelphiaLogan, Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaLogan is a neighborhood in the upper North Philadelphia section of the city of Philadelphia, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Philadelphians usually define Logan as being bounded by Wingohocking Street to the south, Olney Avenue to the north, Broad Street to the east, and to 16th Street to the...
, NRHP-listed - Russell H. Conwell School, 1829-1951 E. Clearfield St., NRHP-listed
- Jay Cooke Junior High School, 4735 Old York Rd., NRHP-listed
- Thomas Creighton School, 5401 Tabor Rd., NRHP-listed
- Kennedy Crossan School, 7341 Palmetto St., NRHP-listed
- Lydia Darrah School, 708-732 N. 17th St., NRHP-listed
- Hamilton Disston School, 6801 Cottage St., NRHP-listed
- Murrell Dobbins Vocational School, 2100 Lehigh Ave., NRHP-listed
- James Dobson School, 4665 Umbria St., NRHP-listed
- Paul Lawrence Dunbar School, 12th above Columbia Ave., NRHP-listed
- Henry R. Edmunds School, 1101-1197 Haworth St., NRHP-listed
- James Elverson, Jr., School, 1300 Susquehanna Ave., NRHP-listed
- Eleanor Cope Emlen School of Practice, 6501 Chew St., NRHP-listed
- Federal Street School, 1130-1148 Federal St., NRHP-listed
- D. Newlin Fell School, 900 Oregon Ave., NRHP-listed
- Joseph C. Ferguson School, 2000-2046 7th St., NRHP-listed
- Thomas K. Finletter School, 6101 N. Front St., NRHP-listed
- Thomas Fitzsimons Junior High School, 2601 W. Cumberland St., NRHP-listed
- Edwin Forrest School, 4300 Bleigh St., NRHP-listed
- Robert Fulton School, 60-68 E. Haines St., NRHP-listed
- Elizabeth Duane Gillespie Junior High School, 3901-3961 N. 18th St., NRHP-listed
- Simon Gratz High SchoolSimon Gratz High SchoolSimon Gratz High School is a secondary school located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. An inner-city school, it is perhaps best-known for its famous alumni . Originally operated as a public school by the School District of Philadelphia, Gratz has been run as a charter school by Mastery Charter...
, 3901-3961 N. 18th St., NRHP-listed - Warren G. Harding Junior High School, 2000 Wakeling St., NRHP-listed
- William H. Harrison School, 1012-1020 W. Thompson St., NRHP-listed
- Francis Hopkinson School, 1301-1331 E. Luzerne Ave., NRHP-listed
- Henry H. Houston School, 135 W. Allen's Ln., NRHP-listed
- Thomas Jefferson School, 1101-1125 N. 4th St., NRHP-listed
- John Story Jenks SchoolJohn Story Jenks SchoolJohn Story Jenks School is a public school in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, and is part of the School District of Philadelphia. J. S. Jenks serves children from kindergarten through eighth grade and has a student population of about 500...
, 8301-8317 Germantown Ave., NRHP-listed - John Paul Jones Junior High School, 2922 Memphis St., NRHP-listed
- Eliza Butler Kirkbride School, 626 Dickinson St., NRHP-listed
- Logan Demonstration School, 5000 N. 17th St., NRHP-listed
- James R. Ludlow School, 1323-1345 N. 6th St., NRHP-listed
- William Mann School, 1835-1869 N. 54th St., NRHP-listed
- Martin Orthopedic School, 800 N. 22nd St., NRHP-listed
- Delaplaine McDaniel School, 2100 Moore St., NRHP-listed
- George Meade School, 1801 Oxford St., NRHP-listed
- William M. Meredith School, 5th and Fitzwater Sts., NRHP-listed
- Thomas Mifflin School, 3500 Midvale Ave., NRHP-listed
- Andrew J. Morrison School, 300 Duncannon St., NRHP-listed
- George W. Nebinger School, 601-627 Carpenter St., NRHP-listed
- Jeremiah Nichols School, 1235 S. 16th St., NRHP-listed
- Olney High School, Duncannon and Front Sts., NRHP-listed
- Overbrook High SchoolOverbrook High School (Philadelphia)Overbrook High School is an inner-city, public, four-year secondary school in the Overbrook section of West Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.-School:...
, 59th and Lancaster Ave., NRHP-listed - John M. Paterson School, 7001 Buist Ave., NRHP-listed
- William S. Pierce School, 2400 Christian St., NRHP-listed
- Penn Treaty Junior High School, 600 E. Thompson St., NRHP-listed
- Joseph Pennell School, 1800-1856 Nedro St., NRHP-listed
- Samuel W. Pennypacker School, 1800-1850 E. Washington Ln., NRHP-listed
- Philadelphia High School for GirlsPhiladelphia High School for GirlsThe Philadelphia High School for Girls, also known as Girls' High, is a public university-preparatory magnet high school for girls in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. As its name suggests, the school's enrollment is all female....
, 17th and Spring Garden Sts., NRHP-listed - Gen. John F. Reynolds School, 2300 Jefferson St., NRHP-listed
- Richmond School, 2942 Belgrade St., NRHP-listed
- Theodore Roosevelt Junior High School, 430 E. Washington Ln., NRHP-listed
- William Rowen School, 6801 N. 19th St., NRHP-listed
- Anna Howard Shaw Junior High School, 5401 Warrington St., NRHP-listed
- William Shoemaker Junior High School, 1464-1488 N. 53rd St., NRHP-listed
- Franklin Smedley School, 5199 Mulberry St., NRHP-listed
- Walter George Smith School, 1300 S. 19th St., NRHP-listed
- Spring Garden School No. 1, 12th and Ogden Sts., NRHP-listed
- Spring Garden School No. 2, Melon St. S of 12th St., NRHP-listed
- Stanton, Edwin M., School, 1616-1644 Christian St., NRHP-listed
- Thaddeus Stevens School of Observation, 1301 Spring St., NRHP-listed
- James J. Sullivan School, 5300 Ditman St., NRHP-listed
- Mayer Sulzberger Junior High School, 701-741 N. 48th St., NRHP-listed
- George C. Thomas Junior High SchoolGeorge C. Thomas Junior High SchoolGeorge C. Thomas Junior High School also known as Thomas Junior High is a public secondary middle school located in the south section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the intersection of 9th Street and Johnson Street, just north of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex with residential...
, 2746 S. 9th St., NRHP-listed - William J. Tilden Junior High School, 66th St. and Elmwood Ave., NRHP-listed
- Edwin H. Vare Junior High School, 2102 S. 24th St., NRHP-listed
- Roberts Vaux Junior High School, 230-2344 W. Master St., NRHP-listed
- Gen. Louis Wagner Junior High School, 17th and Chelton Sts., NRHP-listed
- George Washington School, 5th and Federal Sts., NRHP-listed
- Woodrow Wilson Junior High School, Cottman Ave. and Loretta St., NRHP-listed
- Mary Channing Wister School, 843-855 N. 8th St., NRHP-listed
- George Wolf School, 8100 Lyons Ave., NRHP-listed
If Catharine has notable works outside of Philadelphia, none are listed on the National Register.