{"nrhp_refnum":"03000528","name":"Philadelphia School of Occupational Therapy","other_names":["Medical Services Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"419 S. 19th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.946040252000046,"lon":-75.17192901399994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2003-06-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Health/Medicine","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story, flat-roofed, U-shaped brown brick Art Deco building at the northeast corner of 19th and Lombard Streets in Philadelphia, built for the Philadelphia School of Occupational Therapy.","why_significant":"The building is argued to be significant for its association with the school, one of the earliest occupational therapy schools in the nation, and for its intact Art Deco institutional architecture. The nomination places the school within the wider development of rehabilitation medicine after World War I.","narrative":"Built in 1930 at the northeast corner of 19th and Lombard Streets in Philadelphia, this three-story brown brick building in the Art Deco style was designed by the firm of Bissell & Sinkler for the Philadelphia School of Occupational Therapy. It was initially two stories, with a third added in 1939. Its facades feature a sandstone entrance surround, brick pilasters with chevron-carved sandstone caps, and sculptural iron panels depicting weaving and woodworking. The school, founded in 1918 to train women as aides for treating disabled World War I soldiers, was among the first of its kind in the country. The building is significant for its association with the early development of occupational therapy and as an intact example of an early 1930s institutional building. Its interior retains the original central corridor and stair arrangement on each floor, though its offices date largely from later renovations.","period_of_significance":"1930-1952","architect_builder":"Bissell & Sinkler (architects); Georgina Yeatman (owner, listed as architect of the 1939 third-story addition in the text)","architectural_style":"Art Deco","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Acquired around 1960 by the Graduate Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and used for medical offices until the late 1990s; a conversion to apartments was in planning stages.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:37.512899-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/03000528.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000528/de91c81cb2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000528/de91c81cb2-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Philly_Occupational.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Philly_Occupational.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"83002277","name":"Rittenhouse Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/rittenhouse-historic-district-83002277/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997480","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_School_of_Occupational_Therapy","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7182808"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/philadelphia-school-of-occupational-therapy-03000528/"}