{"nrhp_refnum":"88002258","name":"Conwell, Russell H., School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1829--1951 E. Clearfield St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.99422440500007,"lon":-75.11453244999996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1988-11-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story brick elementary school at East Clearfield Street and Winter Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, built 1925-1926 to designs by Irwin T. Catharine. It is one of the Philadelphia public school buildings included in the Philadelphia Public Schools multiple property listing.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school is significant for its place in the history of education and of school architecture in Philadelphia. It is presented as an example of Catharine's richer collegiate Gothic treatment of a school type he used repeatedly after World War I. It is also described as one of a small number of demonstration schools, and it was named for Russell H. Conwell, founder of Temple University.","narrative":"Built in 1925-1926 to designs by Irwin T. Catharine, the Russell H. Conwell School is a three-story elementary school of red brick with stone trim, set on a raised basement at East Clearfield Street and Winter Street in Philadelphia. Its central arched entrance has stone surrounds, a projecting two-story stone bay marks the windows, and carved stone panels decorate the end pavilions. Catharine used this plan for several Philadelphia schools, and here he gave it a more elaborate collegiate Gothic treatment than his earlier Georgian and Regency Revival designs. The school is regarded as an example of how the city sought to show an academic, traditional architecture for its post-World War I school construction. It was named for Russell H. Conwell, founder of Temple University, and was one of a small number of demonstration schools built to keep Philadelphia's school system current in both theory and practice.","period_of_significance":"1925-1926","architect_builder":"Irwin T. Catharine (architect)","architectural_style":"Late Gothic Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Excellent condition","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:35.987347-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/88002258.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88002258/d69e0abe95-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88002258/d69e0abe95-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Conwell_School_Philly.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Conwell_School_Philly.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71993785","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conwell_Middle_Magnet_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7381536"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/conwell-russell-h-school-88002258/"}