{"nrhp_refnum":"86003264","name":"Bok, Edward, Vocational School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1909 S. Ninth St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.92587503500005,"lon":-75.15994167599996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-12-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A vocational school building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, built in 1935-193? (the final year is garbled in the OCR text) and known as the Bok School.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the school as representing a new generation of vocational schools in Philadelphia, offering both traditional woodworking and carpentry and training in newer technical fields. It argues the Art Deco influenced building retains a high level of integrity and illustrates architect Irwin T. Catharine's use of verticality and ornament in school design. It is described as the only vocational school by Catharine included in the nominated thematic group.","narrative":"Built in the mid-1930s in Philadelphia, the Bok School is a vocational school that brought a new scale of training to the city. Its architect, Irwin T. Catharine, designed the building in an Art Deco influenced style, and it is regarded as retaining a high level of integrity. Its floor plan is organised around two large central light courts, with double loaded corridors feeding from a main horizontal corridor and stairs placed at the front, rear and sides. Rooms were equipped for bricklaying, plastering and plumbing, and for elementary and advanced machine construction. The school also offered elementary and advanced tailoring in its expanded home economics program, along with men's and women's hairdressing rooms. The building's tall proportions, emphasis on verticality and detailed ornament are the main reasons for its importance. It is also the only vocational school by Catharine in the nominated thematic group, which is why its significance is tied to both architecture and education.","period_of_significance":"1935-193","architect_builder":"Irwin T. Catharine (architect)","architectural_style":"Art Deco influenced","criteria":[],"status_note":null,"vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:32.901329-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/86003264.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86003264/b6d0b7a003-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86003264/b6d0b7a003-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bok_School_Philly.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bok_School_Philly.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71993721","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_W._Bok_Technical_High_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5345736"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/bok-edward-vocational-school-86003264/"}