Philadelphia's architect Irwin T. Catharine - did he even exist?

Irwin Thornton Catharine (October 22, 1883 – March 3, 1944) was the chief architect of Philadelphia public schools from 1920 until his retirement in 1937. Buildings built during Catharine's tenure ranged from Gothic Revival, as in the case of Simon Gratz High School, to Streamline Moderne, as in his last project, Joseph H. Brown Elementary School. He died in Philadelphia in 1944. - Wikipedia

Irwin T. Catharine
the ghost architect?

1883 - 1944​

From 1918 to 1937, his work added 104 new buildings (replacing 37 existing ones), added wings to 26 other schools, and otherwise improved at least 50 other schools.

Vanishing Philadelphia: Ruins of the Quaker City​

A number of his works (all in Philadelphia ) are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

• James Alcorn School, (1931), 1500 S. 32nd St., NRHP-listed[2]
• Ethan Allen School, 3001 Robbins Ave., NRHP-listed
• Charles Y. Audenried Junior High School, 1601 S. 33rd St., NRHP-listed
• Bartlett School, 1100 Catharine St., NRHP-listed
• Clara Barton School, 300 E. Wyoming Ave., NRHP-listed
• John Bartram High School, 67th and Elmwood Sts., NRHP-listed
• Dimner Beeber Junior High School, 5901 Malvern Ave., NRHP-listed
• Belmont School, 4030-4060 Brown St., NRHP-listed
• Rudolph Blankenburg School, 4600 Girard Ave., NRHP-listed
• Board of Education Building, 21st St. and Benjamin Franklin Pkwy., NRHP-listed
• Edward Bok Vocational School, 1909 S. Ninth St., NRHP-listed
• Daniel Boone School, Hancock and Wildey Sts., NRHP-listed
• F. Amadee Bregy School, 1700 Bigler St., NRHP-listed
• Joseph H. Brown School, 8118-8120 Frankford Ave., NRHP-listed
• Laura H. Carnell School, 6101 Summerdale Ave., NRHP-listed
• Lewis C. Cassidy School, 6523-6543 Lansdowne Ave., NRHP-listed
• Joseph W. Catharine School, 6600 Chester Ave., NRHP-listed
• Central High School, Olney and Ogontz Aves., Logan neighborhood of Philadelphia, NRHP-listed
• Russell H. Conwell School, 1829-1951 E. Clearfield St., NRHP-listed
• Jay Cooke Junior High School, 4735 Old York Rd., NRHP-listed
• Thomas Creighton School, 5401 Tabor Rd., NRHP-listed
• Kennedy Crossan School, 7341 Palmetto St., NRHP-listed
• Lydia Darrah School, 708-732 N. 17th St., NRHP-listed
• Hamilton Disston School, 6801 Cottage St., NRHP-listed
• Murrell Dobbins Vocational School, 2100 Lehigh Ave., NRHP-listed
• James Dobson School, 4665 Umbria St., NRHP-listed
• Paul Lawrence Dunbar School, 12th above Columbia Ave., NRHP-listed
• Henry R. Edmunds School, 1101-1197 Haworth St., NRHP-listed
• James Elverson, Jr. School, 1300 Susquehanna Ave., NRHP-listed
• Eleanor Cope Emlen School of Practice, 6501 Chew St., NRHP-listed
• Federal Street School, 1130-1148 Federal St., NRHP-listed
• D. Newlin Fell School, 900 Oregon Ave., NRHP-listed
• Joseph C. Ferguson School, 2000-2046 7th St., NRHP-listed
• Thomas K. Finletter School, 6101 N. Front St., NRHP-listed
• Thomas Fitzsimons Junior High School, 2601 W. Cumberland St., NRHP-listed
• Edwin Forrest School, 4300 Bleigh St., NRHP-listed
• Robert Fulton School, 60-68 E. Haines St., NRHP-listed
• Elizabeth Duane Gillespie Junior High School, 3901-3961 N. 18th St., NRHP-listed
• Simon Gratz High School, 3901-3961 N. 18th St., NRHP-listed
• Warren G. Harding Junior High School, 2000 Wakeling St., NRHP-listed
• William H. Harrison School, 1012-1020 W. Thompson St., NRHP-listed
• Francis Hopkinson School, 1301-1331 E. Luzerne Ave., NRHP-listed
• Henry H. Houston School, 135 W. Allen's Ln., NRHP-listed
• Thomas Jefferson School, 1101-1125 N. 4th St., NRHP-listed
• John Story Jenks School, 8301-8317 Germantown Ave., NRHP-listed
• John Paul Jones Junior High School, 2922 Memphis St., NRHP-listed
• Eliza Butler Kirkbride School, 626 Dickinson St., NRHP-listed
• Logan Demonstration School, 5000 N. 17th St., NRHP-listed
• James R. Ludlow School, 1323-1345 N. 6th St., NRHP-listed
• William Mann School, 1835-1869 N. 54th St., NRHP-listed
• Martin Orthopedic School, 800 N. 22nd St., NRHP-listed
• Delaplaine McDaniel School, 2100 Moore St., NRHP-listed
• George Meade School, 1801 Oxford St., NRHP-listed
• William M. Meredith School, 5th and Fitzwater Sts., NRHP-listed
• Thomas Mifflin School, 3500 Midvale Ave., NRHP-listed
• Andrew J. Morrison School, 300 Duncannon St., NRHP-listed
• George W. Nebinger School, 601-627 Carpenter St., NRHP-listed
• Jeremiah Nichols School, 1235 S. 16th St., NRHP-listed
• Olney High School, Duncannon and Front Sts., NRHP-listed
• Overbrook High School, 59th and Lancaster Ave., NRHP-listed
• John M. Patterson School, 7001 Buist Ave., NRHP-listed
• William S. Peirce School, 2400 Christian St., NRHP-listed
• Penn Treaty Junior High School, 600 E. Thompson St., NRHP-listed
• Joseph Pennell School, 1800-1856 Nedro St., NRHP-listed
• Samuel W. Pennypacker School, 1800-1850 E. Washington Ln., NRHP-listed
• Philadelphia High School for Girls (now Julia R. Masterman School), 17th and Spring Garden Sts., NRHP-listed
• Gen. John F. Reynolds School, 2300 Jefferson St., NRHP-listed
• Richmond School, 2942 Belgrade St., NRHP-listed
• Theodore Roosevelt Junior High School, 430 E. Washington Ln., NRHP-listed
• William Rowen School, 6801 N. 19th St., NRHP-listed
• Anna Howard Shaw Junior High School, 5401 Warrington St., NRHP-listed
• William Shoemaker Junior High School, 1464-1488 N. 53rd St., NRHP-listed
• Franklin Smedley School, 5199 Mulberry St., NRHP-listed
• Walter George Smith School, 1300 S. 19th St., NRHP-listed
• Spring Garden School No. 1, 12th and Ogden Sts., NRHP-listed
• Spring Garden School No. 2, Melon St. S of 12th St., NRHP-listed
• Stanton, Edwin M., School, 1616-1644 Christian St., NRHP-listed
• Thaddeus Stevens School of Observation, 1301 Spring Garden St., NRHP-listed
• James J. Sullivan School, 5300 Ditman St., NRHP-listed
• Mayer Sulzberger Junior High School, 701-741 N. 48th St., NRHP-listed
• George C. Thomas Junior High School, 2746 S. 9th St., NRHP-listed
• William J. Tilden Junior High School, 66th St. and Elmwood Ave., NRHP-listed
• Edwin H. Vare Junior High School, 2102 S. 24th St., NRHP-listed
• Roberts Vaux Junior High School, 230-2344 W. Master St., NRHP-listed
• Gen. Louis Wagner Junior High School, 17th and Chelton Sts., NRHP-listed
• George Washington School, 5th and Federal Sts., NRHP-listed
• Woodrow Wilson Junior High School, Cottman Ave. and Loretta St., NRHP-listed
• Mary Channing Wister School, 843-855 N. 8th St., NRHP-listed
• George Wolf School, 8100 Lyons Ave., NRHP-listed

Some of Catharine's Buildings

some look like kit buildings

Fun Fact​

Catharine joined the AIA in 1921 and served as the vice-president of the Pennsylvania Society of Architects in 1929.

There was another "appointed" architect named Elmer H. Fisher, who served as a vice-president of AIA.

Fisher was elected Vice-President of the Southern California Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1895.

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What we have is this super prominent Philadelphia architect Irwin Thornton Catharine, who built a butt load of older buildings in 1920s-1930s. Did not check all of the above quoted NRHP-listed links, but from what I have seen so far, there is no information which could serve any investigative purpose.

• Where is any information on this architect?
• Why there is not a single photograph of the guy (though a single would not do)?
• Why there is no useful historical information pertaining to any of the buildings constructed by Catharine?
• NRHP listings become an interesting detail accompanying these suspicious buildings.

WHERE IS HIS PHOTO?​

He did not live in the 1850s. His alleged creations pertain to 1920s-1930s. Is he another one of the appointed architects?

• Catharine, Irwin Thornton (1884-1944)
• Catharine, Irwin Thornton (1884-1944)- project list
• Irwin T. Catharine - Wikipedia
• Why All Philly Schools Look The Same
• Philadelphia Public Art Artist: Irwin T. Catharine

 

[jd755]

I came across his obituary in the NY Times.
Source

Edit to add.
Anyone with an ancestry.com membership could look through some documentation here.