Girard College

Neighborhood:North

Address:
2101 S. College Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19121

Significance:
Founded in 1848 by Stephen Girard's bequest, Girard College became the focus of a major civil rights movement in the early to mid 20th century to desegregate the school. After a lengthy legal struggle, NAACP lawyer Cecil B. Moore (1915-1979), following the efforts of lawyer Raymond Pace Alexander (1897-1974), successfully convinced the U.S. Supreme Court to desegregate the school in 1967, breaking Girard's original will restricting admittance to white orphan boys.

Type of Historic Resource:school

Date Built / Architect:1833, Thomas Ustick Walter; 1968

Extant: yes

Philadelphia Register of Historic Places:Philadelphia Register (5/28/1968; 2101-2111 S. College; Founders Hall)

National Register of Historic Places:National Historic Landmark (8/4/1969; Founders Hall, Main Building), National Register (10/29/1974; Girard College Campus)

Listed in PHMC Cultural Resources Database:yes

Other surveys, if applicable:HABS (PA-1731)

Historical Marker:PA Historical Marker (1992)

Text of Historical Marker:
In 1930s, lawyer Raymond Pace Alexander challenged the school's restriction (mandated by Stephen Girard's 1831 will) to poor white orphans. Attorney Cecil B. Moore later went to the federal courts; by a 1968 ruling the school was opened to all races.