Director

This building was designed as the school Library by architect E. Wilton and built 1931-1933 on what had been open space next to Founder’s Hall. Before it was built, the first floor of Founder’s Hall served as the library; however the school had begun to outgrow the space. The architecture of the new library was meant to compliment Founder’s Hall, although at a more modest scale.Wilton chose to give the library extensive detail and decoration, both inside and out. The building’s exterior features Ionic columns, which complement the Corinthian columns and Doric Columns on the other buildings on the circle. The interior featured details including windows incorporating historic printer’s marks, tiled fireplaces, and an elaborate plasterwork ceiling on the second floor. Today the building has been renovated, with the first floor serving as a Welcome Center and Admissions Office, while the second floor hold the TEC center, but many of the original decorative details remain intact and bear witness to the history of the space.

Website

Founder's Hall museum/Girard College Historical Collections website

This purpose-built library was constructed 1931-1933 to replace earlier library space on the first floor of Founder’s Hall. It now contains the Admissions Office and Welcome Center on the ground floor and the TEC center on the second floor. The building’s Ionic columns were chosen to complement the Corinthian columns of Founder’s Hall and the Doric columns of the High School.

Library

French immigrant Stephen Girard (1750-1831) died in his adopted city of Philadelphia in 1831, leaving behind a multi-million dollar fortune earned from a lifetime of maritime trade, banking, and real estate. In his will, the philanthropist dictated that most of his wealth should be used to build and operate a boarding school for poor, white, male orphans. He originally intended that it would be located on a block between Market and Chestnut Streets and 11th and 12th Streets that he owned in Center City, but in 1831, he bought the 45-acre Peel Hall Farm and added a codicil to his will placing the school on this larger tract of land. Girard hoped that by providing a “better education, and a more comfortable maintenance” than the city’s publicly-funded schools or orphanages could offer, students would become productive, independent members of society. Girard endowed the school with $6 million of his $7.5 million dollar fortune for its construction and operation, the largest philanthropic gift in American history at the time. Stephen Girard detailed many specifications for the establishment of the school he would endow, from the subjects that students should be taught to the dimensions of the main building where students would learn.  Girard College opened its doors to almost one hundred orphan students on January 1, 1848. Students entered the school between six to ten years old, and were required to leave by age 18. Admission preference, as per Girard’s will, was given first towards orphans from Philadelphia, second to those living in the rest of Pennsylvania, then the city of New York, then New Orleans. The admissions department’s definition of “orphan” only required the child applicant to have a deceased father. Youth lived in boarding dormitories year-round, where they were supervised by household staff. Intending that the school should be non-sectarian, Girard’s will controversially banned clergy from setting foot on campus, but called for students to be taught “the purest principles of morality.” Thus, students were led in daily non-denominational services by College officers or invited laymen.  Educational levels at Girard College were initially organized into three departments: Primary Department No. 2 for the youngest students, Primary Department No. 1 similar to middle school grades, and a Principal Department for the highest level of students. Although division of classes and grades changed often in the 19th century, the youngest levels were consistently taught basic knowledge in reading, writing, and some arithmetic. These studies continued in the middle years, with the addition of science and history introduced. Advanced subjects for the high school equivalent were taught by specialized professors.  Initially, the school placed graduating students in the apprenticeship of master craftsmen before they reached the age of 18, as mandated by the founder’s will. In 1861, a manual labor department was established to prepare students with basic skills in several mechanical arts before they became apprentices. By the late 19th-century, the societal decline in the apprenticeship system meant Girard College was struggling to secure enough suitable apprenticeship placements for their graduates. The Mechanical School opened in 1884 as the successor to the manual labor department and a replacement for apprenticeships. Older pupils were enrolled in this secondary curriculum where they attained a variety of mechanical skills including metalworking, woodworking, carpentry, and electrical mechanics. The High School also offered a business course, with classes in accounting, typing, and finance. More Girard College graduates began pursuing higher education in the early decades of the 20th century and post-secondary enrollment climbed in the post-World War II era.  As the school constructed new campus buildings to accommodate more youth, Girard College was able to admit even more orphan boys. Student enrollment reached its peak at 1,733 students in 1940. Enrollment at institutions for orphans declined across the nation after WWII, as financial safety nets in the form of social security for widowed mothers provided families with more options, and advances in healthcare extended the survival of working fathers. Confronting the will’s restrictions on race proved to be a lengthy battle and a key struggle of the northern civil rights movement. In 1954, the Supreme Court’s ruling in the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education declared that “separate but equal” education in public schools was unconstitutional. Although Girard College was privately funded through Girard’s bequest, it was publicly managed. The North Philadelphia neighborhood around Girard College had become home for an increasing number of African American residents. Yet, Girard College remained all white, owing to the “poor, white, male orphan” qualification required in Stephen Girard’s will. In 1954, African-American activist, lawyer, and Philadelphia city council member Raymond Pace Alexander brought a lawsuit on behalf of boys denied admission on the basis of race. Although the case ultimately went to the Supreme Court, it did not result in the school’s desegregation. In the 1960s, Cecil B. Moore, the newly elected leader of the Philadelphia branch of the NAACP, reignited the issue and beginning on May 1, 1965 he organized daily protests outside of the wall of the Girard College. On August 3, 1965 Martin Luther King came to Girard and gave his support to the activists, making a speech announcing that “the walls would crumble like the walls of Jericho.” After 7 months and 17 days of daily protests, a new lawsuit was filed in December 1965. This new suit eventually forced the desegregation of the school and in 1968 the first four African-American boys and the first two boys of Asian descent were enrolled as students.  Further enrollment changes happened in the 1970s and 80s. In hopes of admitting more students, Girard College amended its admission policy in 1977 to accept “functional orphans” ­– children from single-parent families who do not necessarily have a deceased father. This measure increased the number of applicants significantly and reversed the downward trend of student enrollment. In 1982, following the filing of a law suit by the Women’s Law Project and N.O.W. on behalf of a female applicant, the city requested and received permission from the Orphans Court to put aside the will’s male-only requirement. The school admitted its first girls in 1984, starting with an initial cohort in the elementary school. Girard became fully coeducational as these students aged and the class of 1993 was the first to include female graduates. Instruction in the Mechanical School was phased out in the 1980s, and the school’s curriculum became exclusively college preparatory in the 1990s. In 2009, Autumn Adkins Graves became the first African American and female president of Girard College. Girard College transitioned to a 5-day boarding program in the early 2010s, in which all students board on campus during the week and return home for the weekend.  Today, the 1st-12th grade school continues to provide full scholarships that cover schooling and boarding for all students. Girard College is organized into an elementary, middle, and high school. The high school’s academic focus centers on college prep, boasting a 100% college acceptance rate for all of its students. The campus’s varsity-level athletics include soccer, basketball, track, baseball, and softball. Girard College has been a major site for civic engagement, such as serving as the site of Philadelphia’s annual Martin Luther King Day of Service program since 2010. Its alumni have made substantial impact in the local community and American society.

Girard College is a 1st-12th grade independent school in Philadelphia that has provided free education and boarding for financially disadvantaged students since it first opened in 1848. Despite the name “College,” Girard has always been a residential school for students between the ages of six and eighteen. The boarding school was created and financed through the will of Stephen Girard, one of the first millionaires in US history, who originally endowed the school for “poor white male orphans.” Owing to the rigorous efforts of civil rights activists to desegregate the school, Girard admitted its first non-white students in 1968; the school became coeducational in 1984. Today, Girard students represent various cultural backgrounds, but all come from families with demonstrated financial need and with one or no birth parents living at home. For much of its history, the school taught a dual curriculum of academic subjects and vocational skill training; today it is fully college-preparatory. Girard College is a significant site in local history and a place of opportunity, student life, and achievement for many generations of students. 

Please note that Girard College is an active residential school, and campus is only open to the public for advertised events. Founder’s Hall Museum is open to the public for walk-in visitation on Thursdays, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. unless otherwise noted, with additional times available by appointment. Visitors are required to check in with the Security Office and present photo ID upon arrival.

Stephen Girard (1750-1831), the millionaire and philanthropist that endowed Girard College, wrote in his will that after completing their on-campus education, Girard College students should be apprenticed in fields such as “agriculture, navigation, arts, mechanical trades, and manufactures,” which would prepare them for a productive life of work and citizenship. In the early years of Girard College, the school placed students between the ages of 14 to 18 in the apprenticeship of a master craftsman or local business, as mandated by the founder’s will. The College administration stayed in contact with the apprentices and their masters to ensure that they were receiving proper treatment and demonstrating satisfactory progress. After concluding their apprenticeship, the competent young alumni would enter the industry geared with useful and marketable skills. In 1861, a manual labor department was established to prepare students with basic skills in several mechanical trades before they left campus grounds for apprenticeships.  With each passing decade, the tradition that Stephen Girard knew of masters instructing, housing, and mentoring apprentices had been steadily diminishing across the country with the rise of industrialization. By the late 19th-century, Girard College was struggling to secure enough apprenticeship placements for their graduates under expert craftsmen and artisans. Searching for ways to replace the apprenticeship requirement and improve occupational prospects for graduating students, the school’s board spent several years observing mechanical programs at polytechnic institutions across New England and overseas in Europe. They settled on designing a program based on a simplistic Russian model of teaching the core basics in mechanical arts. They were heavily inspired by its successful implementation at the Institute of Technology in Boston (which later became the Massachusetts Institute of Technology). Construction for a new mechanical school building began in 1883, in which the machinery and layout of workshop rooms was modelled after those found at Boston’s Institute of Technology. The Mechanical School opened in December 1884 as the successor to the manual labor department. To supplement the main curriculum of academics, older pupils were enrolled in a secondary curriculum where they attained manual and technical skills in mechanical arts before leaving campus. This approach became known as the “dual curriculum.” By the end of the 1800s, the Mechanical School curriculum consisted of training in metalworking, woodworking, mechanical drawing, pattern making, foundry, carpentry, electrical mechanics, Blacksmithing, and plumbing. Older, experienced students had the privilege to choose a specialty in one of these departments. Equipped with this practical hands-on experience, graduates had remarkably better success obtaining employment in both mechanical trades and non-mechanical occupations.  The Mechanical School building was supplemented with a separate Foundry building in 1885, adjacent to the back gate. The main Mechanical School building was renovated and doubled in size in 1925, while the Foundry building was enlarged in 1909 and then again around 1930. The variety of mechanical branches offered expanded over time to include printing, machinery, auto mechanics, paint shop, and cabinetry. Girard College would proudly display the products of student work at national exhibitions. During the two world wars, students even produced necessities for the war effort through the Mechanical School. Girard also offered a business course option with accounting and finance. Tracks eventually developed in the dual curriculum, in which students would pursue either an academically focused business path or technically focused training. Students were required to take basic classes in both, though students in the technical track, who in one era were nicknamed “tekkers” by their peers, devoted much more of their time to the Mechanical School.  By the 1980s, the Mechanical School curriculum was gradually phased out and craft training was replaced with an exclusively college prep curriculum in the 1990s. The current educational focus of Girard College is to create a sturdy foundation for graduates to succeed in higher education, thus fulfilling the original goal of preparing these youth for successful lives after leaving Girard. The Mechanical School building is no longer in active use, although some equipment remains and many objects from the Mechanical School are displayed at the Founder’s Hall museum on campus.

During the century between 1884 and the 1980s, the Mechanical School at Girard College was a site for older students to learn manual skills in mechanical arts such as wood-working, metal-working, carpentry, electrical work, and even auto mechanics. Before the Mechanical School existed, graduating students were placed as apprentices to master craftsmen during the mid-19th century. The changing economy and decline of apprenticeships throughout the 1800s eventually led Girard College to switch to on-campus technical and vocational training. The Mechanical School filled this need by providing basic instruction in the practical application of tools and mechanical processes. Girard College’s academic and mechanical education was known as the dual curriculum. By the 1980s, instruction in the Mechanical School declined and was replaced with college preparation during the next decade. Today, Girard College continues to prepare its students for college and subsequent careers.

Mechanical School

The current Elementary and Middle School complex includes classroom space, a library, auditorium, amphitheater, dormitory space, and a dining hall, but when Girard College opened in 1848, the western half of the campus had no college buildings at all. Instead, it contained woods, gardens to supply the school, and a pond with an ice house. The pond was converted into lined swimming holes in 1878 and was popular both for summer swimming and winter ice skating, until it was filled in in 1914 during the construction of the High School. The school also placed a cemetery at the west end of campus for students who died without other family arrangements, but as school buildings expanded westward, the cemetery was closed in 1882 and all remains were reinterred in a Girard College plot at Laurel Hill Cemetery. The school reached peak enrollment in the 1920s and 1930s, which led to a campus-wide building campaign that included construction of the Armory, Banker Hall, the Junior School, the Chapel, the Library, and the Administration Residences. A dormitory complex for the youngest students, known as the West End, was opened in 1929 on the site of the current Elementary and Middle School complex. It replaced an earlier greenhouse which stood on the site, adjacent to the wall. The West End was designed by architect John T. Windrim, son of alumnus James H. Windrim. It included six self-contained houses, each with dormitory rooms, playrooms, and dining rooms (with food supplied from a central kitchen), with the goal of a smaller more home-like environment than the earlier congregate dormitories. This was in keeping with other measures to implement a less institutionalized house/cottage system, such as the opening of the Dining &amp; Service/Banker building in 1927. A tradition developed at Girard of students moving east through the campus as they aged, beginning with the West End and Junior School dorms, then older elementary and middle school dorms farther east (no longer extant), and then culminating with the high school dorms still in use today, with Allen Hall at some points reserved only for seniors. The West End complex was demolished in 1982, as lower student numbers allowed for all teaching and residential life for the elementary students to be centralized in the Junior School. In 2001 the new, modern Elementary and Middle School complex, designed by Vitetta, was opened. It features the Good Friends School (named for one of Stephen Girard’s ships) and three residential buildings: Constitution Hall, Manley Hall (which contains the dining hall), and Navigator Hall (named for one of Stephen Girard’s occupations). Today’s elementary and middle school students have busy schedules, supervised at all times by teachers and residential advisors, and assisted by school counselors. All students board during the week and a typical schedule includes a 6:30 a.m. wake-up with time to prepare for the day, breakfast followed by school from 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m., then after-school activities or study time, dinner, evening activities or study time, and finally an age-appropriate lights out. Popular student activities include band and choir, scouting, intramural sports, swim classes, chess club, field trips and community service.

The current Elementary and Middle School complex was created in 2001 and contains the newest buildings on campus. Designed by Vitteta, the complex includes the Good Friends Elementary School and three residential buildings: Constitution Hall, Christine Manley Hall, and Navigator Hall. Although these buildings are only 20 years old, the idea of housing the youngest students at the far west of the campus is not new. An earlier “West End” complex for early elementary students previously stood on the same plot from 1929 to 1982. 

Elementary and Middle School Complex 

The Armory, completed in 1924, was designed by architect John T. Windrim and built by the firm of Irwin and Leighton. John T. Windrim inherited the Girard architect mantle from his alumnus father, James H. Windrim and, as the President’s report for 1924 notes, John T. Windrim credited “the spirit of his honored father, which still pervaded his establishment, that they had been able to do the job so satisfactorily.” Designed to provide the school with large, open indoor spaces, the Armory was built to serve three purposes: “military instruction, recreational and physical education, and musical instruction and practice.” Its name comes from the first of these; although Girard has never been a military school, a military style-battalion was part of the curriculum from 1869 up until 1969, intended to promote discipline, physical fitness, teamwork, and leadership. Sports, both formal and informal, have a long history at Girard. The school currently fields varsity teams in soccer, indoor and outdoor track, basketball, and baseball/softball, as well as a cheerleading team. Past sports have ranged from wrestling, gymnastics, and swimming to more esoteric pursuits such as fencing. Baseball has an especially long and storied history at the school, and a plaque in the main gymnasium commemorates alumni who went on to play in the early major leagues for teams like the Philadelphia Phillies, the St. Louis Cardinals, the New York Giants, and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Today, the Armory serves primarily as Girard College's gym; the main floor holds four regulation-sized basketball courts which are side by side and a raised track runs above the courts. Throughout the years, the Armory’s large open spaces have served other functions as well, such as in 1939 when it was used to quarantine students during a scarlet fever outbreak. It is still used for large scale events, such as the city-wide Martin Luther King Day of Service, which has been hosted at Girard since 2010.

The Cheesman Herrick Armory, named for a former school president, was designed by John T. Windrim and completed in 1924. The Armory was originally created for indoor recreational use, musical instruction, and to allow the school's battalion to drill inside during inclement weather.  Although Girard College was never a military school, it incorporated military training through the Girard College battalion from 1869-1969. Today the Armory is used as the school’s gymnasium and also houses the alumni office. 

Armory

When Girard College opened in 1848, the western half of campus had no college buildings on it and the land where the Junior School now sits was vegetable gardens. However, the school quickly expanded, and in 1877, Building #7, the Primary School, was opened to house and educate the younger students. The brick Victorian Gothic building was designed by architect James H. Windrim ’56, one of the earliest Girard students, who attended from 1850-1856 and later became the designated architect for Girard projects. The Primary School consisted of several connected buildings and was expanded with additional modules in 1912 before being replaced in 1931 by the new Junior School, designed by James H. Windrim’s son, John T. Windrim. Like the Primary School which preceded it, the Junior School was intended to serve as both school and residential space. Classrooms for grades 1-3 were located in the Junior School, then the students would move up the road to classes for three years of Middle School and one of “Junior High School” in Building #10 (no longer extant) and the High School annex, and finish up with four years of High School. As a dormitory, the Junior School initially provided dormitory space for 396 students, 75 more than the earlier building. In line with other campus construction of the 1920s and early 30s, the Junior School sought both to increase student capacity and to provide a less institutionalized environment. The 1931 annual report lauded the “providing of smaller dining rooms, four in number, for the boys” as well as “the comfort [the building] furnishes, and its homelike atmosphere. The section rooms are provided with fire-places, and the furnishings have included large rugs before the fire-places, and upholstered furniture…” The new Junior School was shorter and wider than the previous Primary School building, which allowed for more playground space to the west. It also featured playrooms in the basement and recreation space on the roof as well as a large auditorium that could accommodate all the junior school students. An alumni website describes the scene on the playground in the 1940s:<blockquote>“Junior School playground was like a large “community zoo” with kids running everywhere - fierce sports competition between the Sections in soccer and baseball - flying kites in blustery spring winds - playing in a sand “tent” that was covered with a metal roof - testing how to walk on stilts (wooden poles with elevated foot rests) - scrambling over, around and dropping through the metal-piped cubicles of a Jungle Gym - sliding down the sliding board standing up - hanging upside down with legs through metal rings suspended on chains - seeing how fast two guys could move a seesaw without one falling off - trying to get a swing to go high enough so its supporting chains would be horizontal with the ground.”</blockquote>Enrollment at Girard College declined after World War II, as with all institutions serving orphans, and beginning in the 1960s it started removing older buildings that were no longer necessary and were not part of the school’s original 1848 construction. The removal of Building #10 (the Middle School), and the residential Good Friends, Lafayette, and West End buildings led to a broader age range being incorporated into the Junior School classrooms and dorms. In 2001, the elementary school classrooms and dormitories were moved to a new Elementary and Middle School complex. Today only the central block of the H-Shaped Junior School is in current use and it houses the high school girls’ dormitories, the student health services, and recreational facilities. The building has been rebranded “the Hum,” commemorating an old nickname (of murky origin) for Girard College.

The Junior School, now also known as the Hum, was opened in 1931, replacing an earlier Primary School building on the site. The H-shaped building with a central core and two wings was designed by John T. Windrim to serve as an elementary school and dormitory. After the closure and removal of other instructional and residential buildings between 1960 and 1982, the Junior School served as the hub for all residential and academic life for the younger Girard students. In 2001, the elementary school classrooms and dormitories were moved to the new Elementary and Middle School complex and today the Junior School houses high school girls’ dormitories, the student health services, and recreational facilities.

Junior School/ The Hum

In response to its growing student population in the late 19th century, Girard College made plans to erect a new dormitory building on campus for middle school students. The new Building #9 would be located south of the campus main road towards the west end of campus, on the grounds left of Building #8. James H. Windrim, a Girard College alumnus and the appointed architect for the Board of Directors of City Trusts, designed the building in the Gothic revival style he also used for Buildings #7, #8, and #10. Construction for Building #9 began in 1885 and it was completed and opened in 1886. When all of the numbered buildings on campus officially received names in 1927, Building #9 was renamed as the Good Friends Building after a ship owned by Stephen Girard, the school’s founder.  The exterior of the Good Friends Building was covered in white marble, with the exterior frame of the doors and windows lined in blue marble. The 3-story building contained dormitory section rooms, living rooms, student dorms, residential staff bedrooms, and domestic staff rooms in the attic. Toilets were located in a separate unit outside of the dormitory building. Having no dining or cooking facilities of their own, the residents of Good Friends used the grand dining hall of Building #8, which later became known as Lafayette Hall. They travelled through a corridor, which was built to connect both buildings, in order to eat their meals in the neighboring dormitory. Echoing a concern about fireproofing that dated back to Stephen Girard’s will, fire protection measures were planned into the infrastructure of Good Friends. The corridors and stairways were fireproof, exterior balconies and bridgeways were constructed for fire escape, and no furnaces or fireplaces were installed in the building. Good Friends typically housed 10 and 11 year old students from the upper primary school or lower middle school grades. The building was intended to house 400 students, though it held up to 600 students during periods of expanding student population in the early 20th century. About 40 students were assigned to each dormitory section room. The children of Good Friends were supervised and cared for by female residential staff known as governesses. Students of the Good Friends Building were assigned to use the Good Friends playground for outdoor recreational activities. Beginning in the late 1930s, less overcrowding on their playground allowed for team sports and athletic competitions to be organized among Good Friends students. A Boy Scouts troop was also established for the students of both Good Friends and Lafayette, in which members were taken on hikes and walks in the park during the weekends. As a result of the domestic staff shortage that occurred during the Second World War, students were required to participate in the Student Work Program by fulfilling many of the domestic and cleaning duties for their own dormitory. Like the adjacent Lafayette Hall, Good Friends required major renovations by the 1940s but its outdated layout was difficult to repurpose. In 1945, Girard College made plans to demolish both Lafayette and Good Friends in order to build a larger dormitory building, with small unit dorm rooms of 2-4 students, but declining postwar enrollment led the school to abandon this idea. The Good Friends Building was closed in 1947 and, along with Lafayette Hall, was demolished in 1960. A soccer field was built on top of the demolished site a year later. The soccer field, along with an encircling running track, continues to exist on these grounds today.

The Good Friends Building served as a dormitory hall for Girard College students and staff between 1886-1947. Originally known as Building #9, it was renamed in 1927 after the Good Friends ship owned by founder Stephen Girard. Good Friends was designed in a Gothic architectural style by Girard College alumnus and architect James H. Windrim. The dormitory housed a capacity of over 400 students, most of whom were younger middle school students. Good Friends, along with the neighboring Lafayette Hall, was demolished in 1960 and replaced with a soccer field that still exists today.

Good Friends Building (1885-1960)

As student enrollment gradually approached 1000 students in the 1880s, Girard College urgently needed more dormitory space to accommodate the hundreds of applicants awaiting admission. A new dormitory building was proposed to be built towards the west end of campus, south of the campus main road. Building #8 was designed in the Collegiate Gothic style popular for 19th century campuses by James H. Windrim, a Girard College alumnus and the appointed architect for the Board of Directors of City Trusts. Windrim also designed other Gothic campus buildings during his tenure, including the first Chapel and Buildings #7, #9, and #10. Construction for Building #8 began in 1880 and it opened as a dormitory for middle school students in 1882. When all of the numbered buildings on campus officially received names in 1927, Building #8 was renamed as Lafayette Hall in honor of the American Revolutionary War hero Marquis de Lafayette. Stephen Girard, the school’s founder, met Lafayette on the Frenchman’s grand tour of the United States in 1825. During its 80 years of service, Lafayette Hall was located to the left of Building #9, which would be known as the Good Friends Building. A connecting corridor was built between Lafayette Hall’s dining rooms and the Good Friends Building, which allowed students to travel between the two dormitories. Lafayette Hall’s building exterior was covered in white marble, with the exterior frame of the doors and windows lined in blue marble. It had four floors in total, which included a basement and three stories topped by a mansard roof. The front structure consisted of the dormitory section rooms, student dorms, residential staff’s bedrooms, living rooms, recreational rooms, storage rooms, a dorm library, and a small front parlor. The basement held the bathing pools and wash basin rooms, along with the Battalion’s armory and drill rooms before the 1927 Armory was built. Toilets were located in a separate outside unit until they were installed in the dormitory building in 1952. The building’s rear structure contained the central kitchen, scullery, grand dining hall, staff dining rooms, and domestic staff’s bedrooms.Lafayette was most notable for its massive 120-feet by 95-feet dining hall that could seat over 1000 individuals. This was intended to provide dining for all middle school and high school students. Its maximum capacity was pushed to serve an additional 200 students in the 1920s due to the growing student population. Between the 1920s and 1930s, Girard College undertook efforts to reorganize residential life into small or family-style unit arrangements and as a result, Lafayette’s dining hall was remodeled and divided into 4 separate dining rooms in 1928. About half of the middle school students continued to eat in Lafayette while the rest were assigned to the newly built Dining and Services Building. After the staff dining rooms closed in 1944 due to a shortage of domestic staff, the residential and domestic staff of Lafayette Hall also ate their meals in the student dining rooms.Lafayette Hall primarily housed students from the upper middle school grades who were around the ages of 12 and 13. During periods of overcrowding in the early 20th century, younger high school students between ages 14 and 15 were also assigned to this dormitory building. Students were grouped into four dormitory sections of about 40 students each, for an average capacity of 160 students. Originally, female residential staff known as governesses supervised the students, but beginning in 1937, they were replaced by male housemasters, who were believed to be more capable of managing young adolescent boys. Lafayette Hall students were originally assigned to the nearby Good Friends playground for outdoor recreation, but were relocated to the Mechanical School playground in 1937 to decrease playground overcrowding. Access to more open space allowed housemasters to organize team sports and athletic competitions among the students of Lafayette Hall. The housemasters also established a Boy Scout troop for the students of both Good Friends and Lafayette, taking them on hikes and walks in the park during the weekends. Inside the dormitory, students had access to photographic darkrooms as well as a workshop in the basement for arts and crafts and wood-working projects. Beginning in the 1940s as a result of a domestic staff shortage, students were required to participate in the Student Work Program and fulfill many of the domestic and cleaning duties for their own dormitory.By the 1940s, the 60-year old Lafayette Hall required major renovations. However, the interior layout of the outdated dormitory building was considered too expensive to repurpose. In 1945, Girard College made plans to demolish both Lafayette and Good Friends in order to build a larger dormitory building, with small unit dorm rooms of 2-4 students, but declining postwar enrollment led the school to abandon this idea. The rear building structure of Lafayette Hall was closed in 1947 and the entire building closed as a dormitory in 1957. The Student Center, which included a student-run store and extracurricular space, had been relocated from Founder’s Hall to Lafayette’s former dining hall in 1956 and remained there until the building was demolished in 1960. A soccer field was built on top of the demolished site a year later. The soccer field, along with an encircling running track, continues to exist today.

Lafayette Hall served as a dormitory hall for Girard College students and staff between 1882-1957. The dormitory was originally known as Building #8 and was later renamed in 1927 after American Revolutionary War hero Lafayette. The building was designed in the Collegiate Gothic architectural style by Girard College alumnus and architect James H. Windrim. Lafayette Hall housed an average capacity of 400 students, most of whom were older middle school youth. In its 80 years of service, Lafayette featured a grand dining hall that seated over 1000 students and, later on, held the Student Center. Lafayette Hall was partially closed in 1947 before being completely closed as a student dormitory in 1957 due to declining enrollment. Student activities continued to be held in Lafayette Hall until it was demolished along with the neighboring Good Friends Building in 1960. A soccer field was built on the site, which continues to exist today.

Lafayette Hall (1880-1960)

Before the Infirmary was built, health services on Girard College’s campus were located in Building #4 (Merchant Hall). As the student population grew in the late 1850s, the boarding school decided to upgrade its medical facilities by erecting a building specifically for an infirmary, and Building #6 was opened in 1859. Due to its exterior appearance, the brick building was criticized by the Visiting Committee of the City Councils for being unsightly and out of place compared to the white marble buildings on campus. The first floor of the two-story Infirmary building was comprised of eight fireproofed patient wards, doctor’s offices, nurses’ rooms, a medicine room, and a parlor. The second floor consisted of an additional eight fireproofed wards, a treatment room, a sitting room, and linen rooms. Storage rooms were located in the basement. The building also had isolation rooms for patients with contagious illnesses, a diet kitchen, a pharmacy, baths, and toilets. The Infirmary possessed infrastructure for proper ventilation, double walls for insulation, air ducts for fresh air circulation, hot water apparatuses for heating located in a fireproof room, and iron fireproof stairways. A fenced-in playground exclusively for student patients was arranged on the grounds next to the building.  When the Infirmary was enlarged in 1880 to accommodate the rapidly growing student population, a third floor with additional wards and nurses rooms was added, along with a medical dispensary and dental room on the first floor. After a diphtheria epidemic afflicted more than 100 students in 1897, Girard College decided that it was necessary to enlarge the Infirmary again. The renovated, L-shaped building was completed in 1898, with an additional south wing and a marble exterior to match all other campus buildings. The new Infirmary held a total of 200 beds. Each of the three floors had a balcony to provide open fresh air spaces for sick patients, as well as indoor solariums. At the turn of the 20th century, the Infirmary had operating rooms set up for surgical services so that students would no longer need to be transferred to the neighboring hospital for surgery. The building was further enlarged in 1911, resulting in the transformation of a first floor ward into a dental clinic that included a dental operating room and a dental technical laboratory. Some nurses’ rooms on the third floor were remodelled into better-quality isolation wards in 1916, which became much more effective in inhibiting the spread of contagious disease as well as improving the general health of the student and staff body.  Throughout its history, the Infirmary had staff and specialists that provided services in general health, dentistry, and surgery. Between 1848-1884, Girard College had one physician assigned to conduct physical examinations for all admission applicants, and another physician to treat students and staff who were sick. In 1885, this arrangement was discontinued in favor of hiring a resident physician and appointing six on-call physicians for severe cases. These roles were again replaced with new positions for a college physician and visiting physician in 1923. Physicians continued to regularly conduct physical examinations for all students, and students who were identified to have physical deficiencies, such as poor posture, took “corrective gymnastics” exercises directed by the corrective gymnastics teacher. Instrumental in day-to-day health services were the nurses, who were supervised by a head nurse. Girard College was required to have at least one part-time dentist, a role which was eventually upgraded to the position of dentist-in-chief. The dental clinic was also staffed by assistant dentists, an exodontist (dentist that extracts teeth), orthodontist, oral hygienist, dental technician, and dental records clerk. Beginning in the 1880s, the Infirmary had access to the professional laboratory testing services and dispensary services of Lankenau Hospital, which was located directly across from the school’s main entrance until it moved in 1953. The Infirmary also referred students to Lankenau Hospital for surgery until the Infirmary instituted its own operating rooms and surgical services in 1902, staffed by on-call consulting surgeons and a nurse anesthetist. The Infirmary had an appointed ophthalmologist (physician that treats the eye) and otolaryngologist (physician that treats the nose, ears, and throat) as well. Both conducted physical examinations of each student upon his enrollment to the school. The eye department’s primary services were to prescribe eyeglasses for students and provide treatment for optical issues. The nose, ear, and throat department often performed surgical operations for newly admitted students, such as throat surgery to reduce tonsillitis and ear surgery to reduce ear diseases. Most of the Infirmary’s surgical services were discontinued in 1958. Girard College’s health services progressed and expanded along with advances in medicine and treatment. In the 1860s and 70s, the popular remedy castor oil was commonly prescribed as a laxative, to the extent that the Infirmary was dubbed by students as the “castor oil house”. Calomel and salts, another popular Victorian cure-all, were often used towards the end of the 19th century. Students with moderate or serious health concerns may have been required to stay in an Infirmary ward for anywhere between one night to months at a time, under the supervision of nurses and staff. If a boy was severely ill or injured and had a mother or guardian living close to campus, the family member was contacted to come to campus to comfort their child and be informed of his health condition. Despite the Infirmary’s efforts, the limits of pre-modern medical care meant that a handful of students died each year, particularly during local outbreaks of contagious diseases. If a student died and his family could not arrange for burial, the deceased boy was interred in a cemetery on the west end of campus; in 1882 the school acquired a plot in Laurel Hill Cemetery for student burials.  The student and staff body were struck by an array of epidemics throughout the 19th century, including the 1851 dysentery epidemic, smallpox in 1863, an 1884 epidemic of meningitis, multiple typhoid fever outbreaks that occurred until a water filtration system was installed on campus in 1893, and an 1897 epidemic of diphtheria. By the turn of the 20th century, epidemics became less frequent at Girard College due to better campus sanitation and food safety procedures, improved practices of early diagnosis, and the prompt assignment of contagious students to isolation wards. Beginning in the 1910s, the Infirmary administered immunizations and vaccinations to all admitted students in order to prevent highly contagious diseases such as diphtheria and smallpox. Campus health services also favored corrective, remedial, and preventive treatments. Even so, these measures could not prevent the worldwide 1918 influenza pandemic from infecting students and staff on campus in September and October of 1918. In accordance with orders from health authorities and advice from its own medical staff, Girard College suspended classes for three weeks, imposed a roughly month-long quarantine that prohibited visitors from entering the school, and closed down all large indoor spaces except for the dining halls. Since students could not leave campus grounds, they were brought out onto the playgrounds as much as possible to get open fresh air. The flu epidemic resulted in about 1000 cases at Girard College and claimed the lives of 9 students. Twenty years later, a major epidemic of scarlet fever broke out in 1939. The school once again implemented a 3-month quarantine confining students to campus, halted all classes and group assemblies for two weeks, limited student activity, and had all students and staff tested. The Infirmary soon became fully occupied, necessitating a makeshift infirmary in the Junior School Building. The 400 boys (¼ of the student body) who tested as being susceptible to scarlet fever were quarantined together for four weeks in the campus Armory to prevent them from becoming infected. In the end, there were 93 reported cases of scarlet fever. The last notable epidemic to occur before the Infirmary closed was the 1957 flu pandemic, which resulted in approximately 145 student cases. The Infirmary building was demolished in 1973, since a smaller student population and advances in modern medicine meant that such a large building was no longer needed. The grounds were transformed into a campus green space in 1977, and the Tuttle pavilion now sits where the former Infirmary once stood. Today, on-campus student health services are located in the Junior School Building.

For more than a century, health services on Girard College’s campus were housed in the Infirmary building. Originally known as Building #6, the Infirmary opened in 1859 as one of the earliest buildings added on campus and was repeatedly expanded over its lifetime. Infirmary staff regularly provided treatment, nursing care, and physical examinations to students of the boarding school. The Infirmary was particularly essential in managing the health of the student body during numerous epidemics that occurred on campus in the 19th and early 20th centuries. At the height of its operations in the early 20th century, the Infirmary provided complete medical and dental facilities, along with limited surgical services. The Infirmary building was demolished in March, 1973, and student health services are now located in the Junior School Building.

Infirmary (1859-1973)

In 1888, Girard College made plans for a new school building that could accommodate about 200 students in the middle school grades. Building #10 was constructed in 1889 and opened in 1890 for school and classroom use. James H. Windrim, a Girard College alumnus and the appointed architect for the Board of Directors of City Trusts, designed the building in the Gothic revival style he previously used for the first Chapel and Buildings #7, #8, and #9. Located behind the Chapel, Building #10 was memorable for its distinctive castle-like turrets. The 3-story white marble building was comprised of two wings connected by a corridor. The basement had playrooms that could be used during inclement weather. The first and second floors consisted of eight classrooms each. The third floor had a large auditorium, where entertainment, guest speakers, and exhibitions were hosted for students. This new school building allowed Girard College to increase its student population to over 1,500 students. Although the organization of grades in the middle school often fluctuated and varied throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, it typically consisted of the 4th-6th grades, which are today considered to be upper elementary school grades. The 7th and 8th grades were included in the middle school during certain time periods as well. The completion of Building #10 was half funded by the bequest of Lawrence Todd, an Illinois farmer who visited Girard College in the early years of its operation and left his fortune to the school in his will. His original bequest of roughly $20,000 had increased to nearly $77,000 by 1890 through investments. The rest of the approximately $144,000 for construction and furniture costs was financed by Stephen Girard’s estate. A brass plaque to memorialize Todd was mounted at the building’s east entrance after it opened. The school even considered naming Building #10 as the Todd Building in honor of the late benefactor. Later on in 1922, the Board of Directors decided against using outside donations for campus expenses that did not directly benefit students. The $77,000 used from the Todd bequest was repaid to the fund, which would instead be used to grant college scholarships to Girard College graduates.  When all of the numbered buildings on campus officially received names in 1927, Building #10 was renamed as the Middle School Building. In 1928, the Middle School and High School Buildings were connected by a newly built annex, which contained a small gym and pool. The auditorium on the third floor was replaced in 1937 by a “library-laboratory”, which supplied reading materials for the elementary and middle schools as well as AV equipment for their teachers. It was also used for class instruction, student research, and leisurely reading. In 1959, all 1st-3rd grade classes were moved into the Middle School Building so that the Junior School Building could be solely used as a dormitory for the elementary and middle schools. In 1975, the Middle School Building was demolished and later replaced with a parking lot.

Opened in 1890, the Middle School Building housed classrooms and student facilities for the middle school grades. It was originally called Building #10 and was later renamed in 1927 as the Middle School Building. Designed by Girard College alumnus and architect James H. Windrim, the building was known by students as the “castle” due to its notable medieval-like turrets. Initially half funded with money left to Girard College by Illinois farmer Lawrence Todd, it was the only early campus building to have been funded by outside donations, although the approximately $77,000 was later repaid to the Todd fund. The Middle School Building was demolished in 1975.

Middle School Building (1889-1975)

Girard College is and always has been a non-denominational school. In an attempt to prevent “the excitement which clashing doctrines and sectarian controversy are so apt to produce,” Stephen Girard’s will actually barred clergy from the campus. However, Girard’s will also called on the (lay) staff to teach students:<blockquote>“the purest principles of morality, so that, on their entrance into active life, they may from inclination and habit, evince benevolence towards their fellow creatures, and a love of truth, sobriety and industry, adopting at the same time such religious tenets as their matured reason may enable them to prefer.”</blockquote>Therefore, non-denominational Christian services led by laymen were held at Girard from its founding. For the first 30 years of the school’s existence, the southwest room of Founder’s Hall served as the chapel. In 1878, it was replaced by a freestanding gothic chapel on the site of the current chapel building. By the late 1920s, school enrollment had grown to nearly 1700 students, necessitating a new, larger, chapel. It was to reuse the same plot of land, which at the time was surrounded by other campus buildings, since removed. The new chapel was the result of an architectural competition, like Founder’s Hall a century earlier. Sixty applicants were narrowed down into ten finalists, and ultimately the award was given to Philadelphia’s Thomas, Martin &amp; Kirkpatrick. The Chapel was designed with function in mind. It was built of Indiana limestone and its unusual wedge shape maximized the use of the available land and enhanced the acoustics of the enormous chapel, which could seat 2400 people. The cost savings of limestone over marble allowed for the construction of the new library building without a separate appropriation. Thomas &amp; Martin designed the building with many exterior doors to facilitate moving large numbers of students into and out of the building and an ambulatory surrounds the main auditorium space, which allows the entry and circulation of people through the building without disturbing events in progress. The ambulatory also means that there are no ground-floor windows from the outside into the auditorium, which minimizes distractions; upper level windows have amber glass.   The style of the Chapel is representative of the 1930s, and includes ornate light fixtures, a gold ceiling, marble floors, and a Greek key pattern that appears throughout the structure. The high mansard roof allows provides space for a massive 6,829-pipe organ installed above the assembly space. Sound from the organ filters into the main hall through grillwork in the ceiling. Opus 872 was the last organ personally designed and finished by renowned organ builder Ernest Skinner.

Girard College has always been a non-denominational school, but as Stephen Girard’s will called for students to be educated in “the purest principles of morality,” chapel services have been a central part of the school’s program since its opening in 1848. The current majestic chapel building replaced an earlier 1878 gothic chapel on the same site. It was designed by Thomas and Martin and was built from 1931-1933 of Indiana limestone. The building features ornate metalwork, including a large number of elaborate doors to facilitate moving students into and out of the building, and also houses a massive 6,829-pipe Skinner organ (Opus 872) installed above the assembly space. Today, chapel services are held twice monthly and are no longer religious, but function as all-school assemblies; the building is also used for concerts, graduations, and other important school events as well as for public events.

Chapel

The High School was designed by John T. Windrim and built 1914-1916 on the site of a former school greenhouse that had been built in 1888 to the west of the front gate. The exterior features large Doric columns, which complement the Corinthian columns on Founder’s Hall. The east entrance (facing the circle) also features three impressive stained-glass windows, depicting the legacy of Stephen Girard and the school, which were created by Girard alumnus Vincent Filliponi ‘43 and installed over the course of three years, completed in 1996. In his 1911 annual report, President Cheesman Herrick argued for a new High School building, claiming that lighting, acoustic and ventilation challenges made Founder’s Hall unsuitable for modern classroom use. He called for the “erection of a suitable building in which our high school may be housed. This building may be provided with a gymnasium, an indoor swimming pool and an assembly hall large enough to accommodate a considerable audience.” Herrick got his wishes and the completion of the High School in 1916 not only marked the end of the use of Founder’s Hall as a classroom building, but dirt from excavating the High School foundation was also used to fill in outdoor swimming ponds at the west end of campus, since the new building housed an impressive indoor pool with marble pool decks which is still in use today. The upper level curriculum at Girard College has evolved over time and debates about the subjects to be taught, methods of teaching, and balance between academic and career preparation date back even before the opening of the school. However, the school’s purpose, as stated in Girard’s will, was to provide “a better education” than disadvantaged students would “usually receive from the application of the public funds.” The amount of money he provided, as well as his decision to call the school a college, a term which in French is akin to an academy, clearly indicated that it was to provide a rigorous and extensive education, rather than the rudimentary schooling then deemed appropriate for poor children. In his will Girard specified a broad, rather than a classical education, but also embraced flexibility rather than absolutes, indicating that the students:<blockquote>“shall be instructed in the various branches of a sound education, comprehending reading, writing, grammar, arithmetic, geography, navigation, surveying, practical mathematics, astronomy, natural, chemical, and experimental philosophy, the French and Spanish languages, (I do not forbid, but I do not recommend the Greek and Latin languages)—and such other learning and science as the capacities of the several scholars may merit or warrant.”</blockquote>Today, Girard College follows a college-preparatory curriculum and employs project-based learning and social impact programs throughout the high school.

The High School was designed by John T. Windrim, son of alumnus and architect James H. Windrim, and completed in 1916. Among other features, the High School was designed to include a large auditorium and a basement swimming pool. Today the High School occupies the upper two floors, with school administration on the first floor. 

High School

Girard College discovered issues in its water system shortly after it opened in 1848. The next year, a new service building was proposed, which would supply the campus with a larger and more reliable water facility. Construction for Building #5, the first major campus building to be erected after the school’s opening, began in 1850 and was completed in 1851. Building #5 consisted of three floors and a basement and was built with the same type of stone used for the perimeter wall of Girard College. For several decades, Building #5 stored water pumped from an adjacent well and provided steam heating for all buildings on campus grounds. Four large water storage tanks and pumps were set up on the top floor in the back of the building and a boiler was located in the basement. Pipes in underground tunnels carried steam from Building #5 to all campus buildings. The building held other campus services and student facilities as well. The bakery was located in the basement, while the laundry was located on the first floor. Classrooms for foreign language, drawing, penmanship, and bookkeeping classes, as well as a chemistry laboratory, were located on the first and second floors. Between 1850-1863, administrators confined children who acted disobediently or disorderly in a disciplinary room on the top floor.   Growing student enrollment soon prompted Girard College to renovate Building #5‘s classrooms into dormitory accommodations in 1856. The dormitory would house up to 140 students at a time, most of whom were between ages 14-17. A gymnasium was built on the second floor in 1860. In 1877, Girard College was incorporated into the city’s water works system. In 1878, Building #5 underwent a major enlargement project that included interior renovations, exterior remodelling, and an expansion of living accommodations. Bathing pools, wash basin rooms, and a handicraft workshop were all installed in the basement for student use. Offices for the president, vice president, and steward were stationed on the first floor. A spacious fireproof stairway was built into the infrastructure. Building #5 was now heated by steam transferred through the underground tunnels from a campus boiler-house. The building’s front exterior was refurbished with plaster and marble to match the appearance of Buildings #1-#4. By the 1880s, the section rooms were located on the first floor, with student dorms, residential staff’s rooms, and linen rooms on the second and third floors. In 1916, the administrative offices were moved to the High School Building, while the section rooms were enlarged.  When all numbered buildings on campus officially received names in 1927, Building #5 was renamed Banker Hall, after one of the professions held by school founder Stephen Girard during his lifetime. The house system was introduced among the dormitory buildings of Girard College during the same year. Banker became one of the four high school dormitory houses, and competed against students from Bordeaux, Mariner, and Merchant Halls in intramural sports competitions. In 1945, the school made plans to demolish Banker Hall. The dormitory was originally designed as a service building, and would better serve students by being replaced with a modernized dormitory that could accommodate a greater number of students in smaller housing units. However, Girard College abandoned the idea of replacing the building as enrollment declined. In 1946, the dormitory placement system was changed so that Banker and Merchant Halls housed only students from the lower high school grades. The dormitory placement system was changed again five years later, assigning all 7th-9th grade students to Banker Hall. In 1949, alumni and high school students raised money to install television sets in the five upper houses, including Banker Hall.  In the fall of 1952, a handful of students caused the largest fire ever recorded in the school’s history. The Banker Hall fire may have been ignited by cigarettes, which students were prohibited from smoking whether on or off Girard College grounds. There were fortunately no casualties, and the $10,000 in property damage was covered by insurance. The roof had to be repaired, doors and air vents walled up, and much of the building had to be replastered, repainted, and reconditioned to prevent future fires. Five students were expelled for causing the fire. Banker Hall was eventually demolished in 1970. Soon after, the existing Dining and Service Building was partially renovated into dormitory space and was renamed as the new Banker Hall in 1973. In 1977, the grounds of the former Banker Hall were landscaped, installed with sidewalks, and turned into a campus green space which continues to exist today.

Banker Hall was the first major building to be added to campus grounds after Girard College opened in 1848. The building was originally known as Building #5 and was later renamed in 1927 after one of the professions of the school’s founder. It initially served solely as a service building that held the campus water system, laundry, bakery, and classrooms, but beginning in 1856, it was remodelled into a dormitory for students between ages 14-17. An 1878 enlargement project renovated the interior and exterior of Banker Hall, along with expanding the dormitory accommodations. In 1952 Banker Hall became the site of the largest fire to ever occur on campus grounds, which resulted in significant property damage but no casualties. Banker Hall was demolished in 1970 and the Dining and Service Building was renamed as the new Banker Hall three years later. In 1977, the grounds of the former Banker Hall were transformed into a campus green space, which continues to exist today.

Banker Hall (1850-1970)

Banker Hall, originally called the Dining &amp; Service Building (D&amp;S), opened in September 1927. At that time there was already another building on campus named Banker Hall (built in 1850); once that building was torn down in 1970 the D&amp;S building was renamed Banker in 1973. When it was built, the twin goals of the D&amp;S building were to accommodate the growing numbers of students at Girard College, which experienced its peak enrollment in the 1920s &amp; 1930s, and to create a less institutionalized dining experience.  Girard College’s older dining halls in the (no longer extant) primary school and Lafayette buildings could seat huge numbers of students, over a thousand in the cavernous Lafayette dining room. By the 1910s, the school wanted to move away from such a mass dining experience and towards smaller, more home-like dining rooms. This was in line towards the overall move to a house system at the time and in addition to the D&amp;S building, new smaller dining rooms were also built in the new West End and Junior School and within the space of the old Lafayette dining room.   Originally, the D&amp;S building also housed clothing and tailoring facilities on the second floor (in keeping with Girard’s will, the school has always provided its students with clothing), along with sitting rooms for female employees. The third floor was staff housing. Over time, the building has served other roles as well, including as high school dormitory space. Today, Banker Hall houses the high school kitchen and two dining rooms, which were most recently upgraded in 2019. Like everything else at Girard, food service has evolved over the years. In the early days, meals were served by staff waiters, then the job was assigned to student servers; today the dining halls are cafeteria style.

Originally known as the Dining & Service Building (D&S), this building was opened in 1927 to provide small dining rooms for students, replacing the large group dining halls then in use. In 1973, it was renamed for one of Stephen Girard’s professions after a previous Banker Hall was demolished. Today, it still houses the high school kitchen and dining rooms, which were most recently upgraded in 2019.  

Banker Hall 

Only 13 years after Girard College first opened, the United States erupted into civil war. A number of young men within the small and growing pool of the school’s alumni served in the military during the war. The vast majority of Girard College alumni joined the Union Army, while a small handful fought for the Confederate Army. Many recent alumni were apprenticed to master tradesmen or artisans at the time, and left their work either with or without their employer’s permission to serve. About 75% of the former students who already completed their apprenticeship had also enlisted. All students currently enrolled in Girard College were below the minimum age required to enter military service, although some left the school or ran away to serve in the war as well. Legally, boys under 18 years of age could only enlist with parental permission, but students without their mother’s permission could lie about their name and age. Over 160 former students fought in the Civil War, and 29 boys died in the Union Army. Shortly after the war’s end, Girard College’s Board of Directors made plans to erect a monument on campus honoring former students who had died serving in the Union Army. William Struthers and Sons was commissioned to construct the monument, while local sculptor Joseph A. Bailey created the statue figure. The Civil War memorial was initially funded by the bequest of Lawrence Todd, an Illinois farmer who had visited Girard College in the early years of its operation and left a total of almost 20,000 dollars in his will to the school. However, the Board of Directors later decided against using outside donations for campus expenses that did not directly benefit students. The 6,000 dollars used from the Todd bequest was re-paid to the fund, and the monument was instead funded by Girard College alumni.The finished Soldiers’ Monument was unveiled on November 24, 1869. The newly organized Battalion and Band of Girard College made their first official performances at the monument’s unveiling ceremony. The four student military companies conducted a march, while the student band performed a dirge. The Civil War monument was installed on the grounds west of Founder’s Hall. It featured the white marble statue of a young man dressed in a soldier’s uniform, with both hands grasping his musket. The soldier stood on a pedestal placed on top of the sandstone base of the monument. Four shield-shaped plaques were mounted on each side of the base. The front tablet featured a quote from the will of the school’s founder, Stephen Girard. The left and right tablets listed the names of 24 known former students who had died in service of the Union, along with where they had died. A dedication statement for these alumni soldiers was inscribed on the back tablet. A canopy over the statues was decorated with a relief of the Philadelphia coat of arms on the front, the US coat of arms on the back, and scholastic emblems on the left and right. Four decades after its installation, the Soldiers’ Monument had begun to deteriorate: the monument’s soft stone material was gradually eroding, the soldier’s musket had fallen into pieces, and there was danger of the canopy collapsing. By 1913, the Board of Directors agreed to replace the crumbling old memorial with a new Civil War monument. J. Massey Rhind, who had previously created the Stephen Girard statue currently located outside the Philadelphia Art Museum, was selected to sculpt the new monument to commemorate both the army soldiers and marine sailors that fought in the war. The old Soldiers’ Monument was removed in 1914 and the new Soldiers and Sailors’ Monument was placed at the same location and unveiled at the Founder’s Day celebration. The replacement monument featured bronze statues of two young men standing together. One is dressed as a soldier and carries a Union flag in his hands, while the other is dressed as a US marine. The statues are placed atop a tall granite base engraved with the following statement: "In memory of the pupils of Girard College who enlisted in the contest for the preservation of the American union". Bronze tablets on the other three sides of the pedestal list the names of 164 alumni Union soldiers and the names of 29 known alumni who died in the Union Army. The names of these alumni soldiers were collected by living Girard College alumni and surviving veterans. The seven known former students who had fought for the Confederacy were purposefully omitted from the monument.The soldier statue and the shield-shaped plaques of the old Soldiers’ Monument were safely stored away in the basement of Founder's Hall. Today, the Soldiers and Sailors’ Monument can still be seen standing at its original location to the west of Founder’s Hall. This monument, along with the World Wars monument, is decorated each year during the Memorial Day service.

When the United States broke out into civil war in 1861, Girard College had only been open for a little over a decade and had a relatively small number of alumni. Nonetheless, some alumni and even students followed their patriotic calling to fight in the war. In 1869, four years after the war ended, Girard College installed its first war memorial on campus to honor the alumni who fought in the Civil War. The Soldiers’ Monument was unveiled in 1869 with plaques mounted on the base for the names of former students who had died in service of the Union. When the memorial began to deteriorate in the 1910s, the school replaced the Soldiers’ Monument with a new Soldiers and Sailors’ Monument in 1914. This monument still stands today to the west of Founder’s Hall.

Civil War Monument

French immigrant, Stephen Girard, arrived in the U.S. in 1776 with little more than his name and eventually became the wealthiest man in the country (his estate was valued at over $7.6 million when he died). It is understandable, then, that he sought to create opportunities for underprivileged children in Philadelphia when he bequeathed some of his millions to create Girard College, a private school for “…poor, white, male orphan children.” Founder’s Hall was one of the original five buildings when the school opened in 1848 and served as the original classroom space.Girard even went to far as to lay out a rough design and dimensions for his grand building in his will. It would consist of three main floors, each at 14,000 square feet. He desired four 50’ x 50’ rooms with 25-foot ceilings, set side-by-side, to be flanked on either side by two 100’ x 20’’ rooms on each floor. He also dictated the thickness of the walls and foundation and the placement of the doors, windows and staircases. Nicholas Biddle, the chairman of the school’s building committee and president of the Second Bank of the United States, was then tasked with making Girard’s vision a reality.The school held a nation-wide architectural competition to determine the building’s designer and Thomas U. Walter submitted the winning plans. He created a monumental Greek revival structure, larger than even the Parthenon. It features 34 fluted Corinthian columns that tower 65 feet and main doors that are over 30 feet tall and 15 feet wide (the doors were fully restored in 2016). However, the large spaces made for challenging classroom acoustics and traffic flow, so the school expanded, additional buildings were built and the last classes moved out in 1916. Today, the building’s houses a museum on the second floor focused on Stephen Girard and the history of Girard College, as well as the manuscript and archival collections on these topics. The first floor is used as event space for both school and outside functions.The Stephen Girard Collection features original 1780-1830 items from his townhome on Water Street. Items include furniture, clothing, paintings, and silver. Due to Girard’s records, the item’s manufacturer, year produced and purchase prices are known for most of the items. The Girardiana Collection is comprised of items that detail the history of the school from 1848 to the present. The book and manuscript collections include Girard’s correspondence, receipt books, bank records and personal library. Original architectural drawings from the 1832 architectural competition and a wide variety of documents and photographs relating to school history are also within the collection.

Founder’s Hall at Girard College is considered by many to be the greatest example of Greek revival architecture in the United States. This imposing structure was built over the course of fourteen years (1833-1847) after banking magnate, Stephen Girard, who died in 1831, stipulated its creation in his will. The building was designed by American architect Thomas Ustick Walter, to Girard’s exacting specifications. At the time of its completion, Founders Hall was the second most expensive building in the country, behind only the U.S. Capitol Building. The campus building initially served as the college’s main classroom building. Today, Founder's Hall is home to a museum and archive as well as event space. The building was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1969.

Founder's Hall at Girard College

After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, many alumni of Girard College, as well as newly graduated and discharged students, soon signed up for military service. While roughly 300 returned from service abroad, 29 of these young soldiers lost their lives fighting in the war. About a decade after the war ended, Dr. Hobart A. Hare, Vice President of the Board of Directors of City Trusts, proposed a memorial to honor the alumni who served in the first World War. In 1929 Dr. R. Tait Mckenzie was commissioned to create what was then called the War Memorial Statue. Mckenzie was a sculptor renowned locally and abroad, who specialized in designing sculptures of young men and athletes. He was also the Physical Education Department Director at the University of Pennsylvania and had spoken at the opening of the Girard College gym (known as the Armory) in 1924.   Mckenzie designed the “Alma Mater and the Student” sculpture with the theme of “Dedication to Service” in mind. The two bronze statues depict a woman adorned in a classical Greek-styled dress, looking down steadily at the boy below with her right hand placed on his shoulder. In her left hand, she holds laurels to bestow on surviving veterans, and poppies for soldiers killed in combat. The boy kneels on one knee while gazing up at the sky, holding in his hands a sheathed sword draped in cloth. According to the sculptor, the woman symbolizes the value of “patriotism”. The young male figure and his sword represents a Girard College boy who is ready to serve his country in war. The statues are raised on two steps atop a granite pedestal. The finished 12-foot tall monument was dedicated during the Founder’s Day celebration in 1932. Hare’s daughter, Amory Hare Hutchinson, unveiled the monument in place of her late father, who had passed away the year before. The monument originally stood between Mariner and Merchant Halls, north of the High School Building.  After the end of the second World War, the WWI monument was re-dedicated as the World War Memorial Monument to memorialize the Girard College former students who had fought in WWII as well. The monument was relocated to its current location to the east of Founder’s Hall and a re-dedication ceremony was held on Founder’s Day in 1946. The original inscription on the front of the monument’s base was amended to recognize both world wars and include the dates of WWII as well as WWI. In 1974, the monument was re-dedicated again to commemorate the alumni who fought as soldiers in the Korean War between 1950-1959 (inscription engraved on the left side), and the Vietnam War between 1961-1973 (inscription engraved on the right side). For their 50th reunion, the alumni of the Class of 1943 donated a bronze plaque listing the names of 66 alumni who died in the second World War, which was mounted on the back side of the pedestal in 1993. The war monument was most recently updated on Founder’s Day in 2017, with another plaque added on the pedestal’s right side recognizing the five Girard College alumni who died in the Vietnam War. The World Wars monument, along with the Civil War monument, is decorated each year for the annual Memorial Day service.

When the United States entered “The War to End All Wars” in 1917, many former students of Girard College enlisted in military service to join the fight abroad. To commemorate these soldiers who fought in World War I, Girard College commissioned sculptor R. Tait Mckenzie to create a war monument in 1929. The “Alma Mater and the Student” monument, which was originally designed to honor the alumni soldiers of the first World War, was gradually re-purposed into a World Wars monument to honor alumni soldiers who fought in later wars throughout the 20th century, including World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. 

World Wars Monument

These four dormitory buildings were designed by Thomas U. Walter and were part of the original school construction, completed in time for its January 1, 1848 opening. Stephen Girard’s will required that “There should be at least four out-buildings, detached from the main edifice and from each other, and in such positions as shall at once answer the purposes of the institution.” Although his original outbuilding drawings were inspired by French neo-classical structures, Walter was encouraged to redesign them in the Greek revival style by Nicholas Biddle, the grecophile director of the Girard College building committee. The triangular pediment at the top of each building with three horizontal bands below is intended to evoke a Greek temple (note the similarities to the more elaborate Founder’s Hall) Originally named from east to west as buildings 1-4, in 1927 they were renamed Allen, Bordeaux, Mariner and Merchant Halls after a long-time 19th century school president, Stephen Girard’s French birthplace, and two of Girard’s professions. Bordeaux, Mariner, and Merchant Halls were used as student dormitories from the outset and were altered in the 1910s to raise the roofs and provide better student accommodations on the top floors. Allen Hall, which was used as a residence for the president and staff until 1933, received the same treatment when it was converted to a dorm. Stephen Girard’s will called for “residence and accommodation of at least three hundred scholars,” so Girard College has always been a boarding school. Historically, residential life was supervised in the younger grades by women known as governesses (or in Girard slang “guvvies”) and in the older grades by men called prefects or house masters. Today the residential staff in all grades are known as RA’s (residential advisors). Girard College has also experimented with new ideas in residential life over the years. At one point in the early 1900s the school tested an idea where there would be a husband and wife employed as “house parents” instead of a single governess. Another arrangement from the 1940s was to move seniors into Allen Hall during their last semester. The hall was setup to test an experimental housing idea which would run similarly to college dorms, and aimed to prepare the students for a more independent style of living as well as providing extra social and development activities, including dances and outside speakers. These arrangements are no longer used today, but these buildings are still used as high school boys’ dormitories and Girard continues to explore and innovate new ways to provide a world class residential education program to all its students.

Originally known as Buildings 1-4 (names were added in 1927), these were the original four “outbuildings” required by Stephen Girard’s will. They were designed by Thomas U. Walter as part of the original school construction completed in 1847. Bordeaux, Mariner, and Merchant Halls were used as student dormitories from the outset, while Allen Hall was used as a residence for the president and teachers. Allen Hall became a student dormitory in 1933 when new administration residences at the east end of campus were constructed. Today Mariner and Merchant are still used as high school boys’ dorms.

Allen/Bordeaux/Mariner/Merchant Halls

This building was designed as the school Library by architect E. Wilton and built 1931-1933 on what had been open space next to Founder’s Hall. Before it was built, the first floor of Founder’s Hall served as the library; however the school had begun to outgrow the space. The architecture of the new library was meant to compliment Founder’s Hall, although at a more modest scale. Wilton chose to give the library extensive detail and decoration, both inside and out. The building’s exterior features Ionic columns, which complement the Corinthian columns and Doric Columns on the other buildings on the circle. The interior featured details including windows incorporating historic printer’s marks, tiled fireplaces, and an elaborate plasterwork ceiling on the second floor. Today the building has been renovated, with the first floor serving as a Welcome Center and Admissions Office, while the second floor hold the TEC center, but many of the original decorative details remain intact and bear witness to the history of the space.

Girard College

Library

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information