Institute for Colored Youth (915-25 Bainbridge St)

In 2019, Philadelphia designated this building. One year earlier, another nomination was approved for the nearby William and Letitia Still House – Underground Railway Way Station, 625 S Delhi St. Yet another nomination, for the Engine 11 fire house, at 1016 South Street, is about to be submitted. This cluster of nominations recognizes African American heritage in this section of the neighborhood. The following text is excerpted from the Institute of Colored Youth nomination, by way of briefly summarizing its significance:

"Founded with a bequest from Quaker philanthropist Richard Humphreys (1750-1832) in 1832 to provide educational opportunities for African-American children, the Institute for Colored Youth was housed in various locations before opening its stately, purpose-built school building at 915 Bainbridge in 1866. Although initially established as a school for boys, the Institute expanded to educate female students by 1852. The progressive school, which was at the forefront of African-American education in the United States, employed and was led exclusively by African-American faculty of both sexes. Chief among the Institute’s prestigious alumni and faculty, including Octavius Catto and Ebenezer Bassett, was the school’s longest-serving principal, Fanny Jackson Coppin, the first African-American woman to head an institution for higher learning in the United States. Under Jackson’s leadership, the Institute enlarged to include an Industrial Department, for which a new building was constructed at 610 S Percy Street in 1888. Through the second half of the nineteenth century, the Institute served as a focal point for the intellectual, cultural, and political life of the community, with many of its faculty and students becoming leaders in the fight for equality for African Americans. In 1903, the school moved to a larger campus in Delaware County, where it changed its name to Cheyney University." That year, the Institute for Colored Youth sold its Philadelphia buildings to the City of Philadelphia, which converted them into the Samuel J. Randall Public School.

DiPasquale, Laura, and Philadelphia Historical Commission. Institute for Colored Youth, 915-25 Bainbridge St.” Philadelphia Historical Register Nomination. May 10, 2019. https://www.phila.gov/media/20190514132541/915-25-Bainbridge-and-610-S-Percy-St-nomination.pdf