{"nrhp_refnum":"88002327","name":"Sullivan, James J., School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"5300 Ditman St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":40.01588531500005,"lon":-75.06687613699995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1988-11-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story yellow brick public school at 5300 Ditman Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, built in 1929-1930 on a raised basement and designed by Irwin T. Catharine. It is one of a group of schools built from the same Philadelphia School Board design.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school is an excellent example of Catharine's 1920s and 1930s Art Deco school designs, with a very high degree of integrity. It is one of six schools built on the same model between 1924 and 1930. It is nominated as part of the Philadelphia Public Schools Thematic District under architecture criteria.","narrative":"Built in 1929-1930 on Ditman Street in Philadelphia, the James J. Sullivan School is a three-story school of yellow brick set on a raised basement. Architect Irwin T. Catharine designed it using School Board Type Number 144, a model he had first used for the Clara Barton School in 1924-1925. The entrance is marked by a colorful arched doorway with terra cotta trim and clustered pilasters, and the stairtowers project from the facade. Brick panels with diaper patterning and a terra cotta cornice add further decoration. The building marked a shift in Philadelphia school design from Colonial Revival toward the modern Art Deco style, and Catharine used this style for many later schools. Six schools were built from the same model between 1924 and 1930. The building is regarded as an excellent example of this style and retains a very high degree of integrity. It is nominated as part of the Philadelphia Public Schools thematic group.","period_of_significance":"1929-1930","architect_builder":"Irwin T. Catharine (architect); School Board of Philadelphia (builder)","architectural_style":"Art Deco","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Condition listed as excellent; present use listed as school.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:36.352883-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/88002327.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88002327/4cba9704dc-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88002327/4cba9704dc-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sullivan_School_Philly_A.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sullivan_School_Philly_A.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71993504","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_J._Sullivan_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6136767"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/sullivan-james-j-school-88002327/"}