Philadelphia High School for Girls
Encyclopedia
The Philadelphia High School for Girls, also known as Girls' High, is a public university-preparatory magnet
Magnet school
In education in the United States, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities as school zones that feed into certain schools.There are magnet schools at the...

 high school for girls
Single-sex education
Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education, is the practice of conducting education where male and female students attend separate classes or in separate buildings or schools. The practice was predominant before the mid-twentieth century, particularly in secondary education and...

 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. As its name suggests, the school's enrollment is all female.

Established in 1848, it was one of the first public schools for women. It is a magnet school
Magnet school
In education in the United States, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities as school zones that feed into certain schools.There are magnet schools at the...

 in the School District of Philadelphia
School District of Philadelphia
The School District of Philadelphia is a school district based in the School District of Philadelphia Education Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that includes all public schools in the city of Philadelphia. Established in 1818, it is the eighth largest school district in the nation.The School...

 with a competitive admissions process. Vincit qui se vincit (she conquers who conquers herself) is the school’s motto. The school is located at Broad Street
Broad Street (Philadelphia)
Broad Street is a major arterial street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is nearly 13 miles long.It is Pennsylvania Route 611 along its entire length with the exception of its northernmost part between Old York Road and Pennsylvania Route 309 and the southernmost part south of Interstate 95...

 and Olney Avenue in the Logan
Logan, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Logan is a neighborhood in the upper North Philadelphia section of the city of Philadelphia, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Philadelphians usually define Logan as being bounded by Wingohocking Street to the south, Olney Avenue to the north, Broad Street to the east, and to 16th Street to the...

 section of Philadelphia.

History

In 1848, The Girls Normal School
Normal school
A normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name...

 was established as the first secondary public school for women in Pennsylvania. It was also the first municipally supported teachers' school in the U.S. The first instructional session was held on February 1, 1848. By June 1848, there were 149 enrolled students which was an incredibly large enrollment for a school at that time. The school continued to grow forcing a move in 1854 to Sergeant Street between Ninth and Tenth Streets.

In April 1854, the name of the school was changed to the Girls’ High School of Philadelphia. By June 1860, 65 graduates had received diplomas bearing the Girls’ High School name. In 1860, the name of the school was again changed to The Girls’ High and Normal School to better define the “design of the institution” as a school for an education confined to academic subjects and for future teachers.

In October 1876, a new school which “for convenience and comfort will probably have no superior” was constructed at Seventeenth and Spring Garden Streets. At the time it was surpassed in size only by Girard College
Girard College
Girard College is an independent boarding school on a 43-acre campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States.Girard is for academically capable students, grades one through 12, and awards a full scholarship with a yearly value of approximately $42,000 to every child admitted to the...

 and the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

.

In 1893, the High School and Normal School were separated into two distinct institutions. It was at this time that the institution became known as the Philadelphia High School for Girls. The school offered three parallel courses: a general course of three years with a possible postgraduate year, a classical course of four years, and a business course of three years. In 1898, a Latin-Scientific Course “was designed to prepare students for the Women's Medical College, Cornell, Vassar
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...

, Wellesley, Smith
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...

, Barnard
Barnard College
Barnard College is a private women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1900. The campus stretches along Broadway between 116th and 120th Streets in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough...

, or such courses in the University of Pennsylvania as were open to women.”

In the early 1930s, the school survived attempts to merge it with William Penn High School
William Penn High School (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
William Penn High School was a public high school located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The school served about 900 students in grades 9 to 12 in the School District of Philadelphia....

. Alumnae, faculty and friends of the school dedicated themselves to its preservation. The school emerged from this crisis with its current identity as a place for the education of academically talented young women.

In 1933, a new school was erected at Seventeenth and Spring Garden Streets to replace the one which had stood on the site since 1876. This historic building, now the site of Julia R. Masterman School
Julia R. Masterman School
The Julia Reynolds Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School is a secondary school located in Philadelphia. It is a magnet school, located in the Spring Garden neighborhood...

, was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 in 1976.

In 1958, the school again outgrew its location and moved to its current site at Broad Street and Olney Avenue. Located down the street at Ogontz and Olney Avenue is Central High School
Central High School (Philadelphia)
Central High School is a public secondary school in the Logan section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Central, the second-oldest continuously public high school in the United States , was founded in 1836 and is a four-year university preparatory magnet school...

, which, until the early 1980s, was an all-male school. Prior to Central turning co-educational, the two schools enjoyed a strong partnership.

Graduating classes at Girls' are known not by class year (e.g., "the class of 2010") but rather by class number (e.g., "the 254th graduating class"). This is because of the former practice of semiannual graduation. As annual graduations were instituted, the practice of referring to class numbers remained.

Many fine traditions have survived Girls’ long history. Annual celebrations include Contest and County Fair. Graduation
Graduation
Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become Graduates. Before the graduation, candidates are referred to as Graduands. The date of graduation is often called degree day. The graduation itself is also...

 traditions also continue. Girls' High graduations were formerly held at the Academy of Music although more recently they are held at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts is a large performing arts venue located on Broad Street, along the stretch known as the "Avenue of the Arts", in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is owned and operated by Kimmel Center, Inc., an organization which also manages the Academy of Music in...

. Students wear white dresses no higher than knee length and carry red flowers. The students purchase their own dresses in any style but the rules of color and length are enforced.

In 2000, the school had its first Million Dollar Scholar. She received a perfect grade-point average and was offered $1 million in college scholarships.

Traditions

Big Sister, Little Sister – Seniors are paired with incoming freshmen and act as their “big sisters”. The "big sisters" provide transitional support to their "little sisters".

Freshman Day, Sophomore Day, Junior Day – Each class is given a day to honor it. Students of the honored class generally sport flowers in their class color, host an auditorium show, and have a tea or other social gathering.

Senior Day – Graduating seniors are given awards for their academic and extracurricular achievements. After the awards ceremony they have lunch on the Spirit of Philadelphia.

Contest – Contest started in 1913 and has evolved over the years. The seniors and freshmen team up to compete against the sophomores and juniors in a variety of competitions that span a few weeks.

County Fair – A schoolwide all-afternoon fair in which each advisory class contributes food, games, and entertainment. All the money earned during county fair is given to a charity of choice by the winning advisory.

Songs of the Season – The school's holiday show. The program always begins with the procession of members of the school's Treble Clef Choir through a completely dark auditorium. Each choir member carries a single lit candle and chants "Hodie Christus Natus Est" by Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...

. The show continues with holiday performances by the school's various extracurricular groups and ethnic clubs. Jill Scott (a Girls' High Alumni) made an appearance at Songs Of The Season in 2006.

Career Day – Alumnae return for a day to give presentations about their careers.

Museum Day – Schoolwide class trip day. Generally, over 30 trips are offered for students to choose from including to New York City, Washington D.C., and Baltimore.

Holiday Open House – Every year, alumnae return to the school for a Holiday Open House. This is held in the pink marble hall with the Nike of Samothrace
Winged Victory of Samothrace
The Winged Victory of Samothrace, also called the Nike of Samothrace, is a 2nd century BC marble sculpture of the Greek goddess Nike . Since 1884, it has been prominently displayed at the Louvre and is one of the most celebrated sculptures in the world.-Description:The Nike of Samothrace,...

 or Winged Victory, which is the symbol of Girls' High, at one of the hallway and Abraham Lincoln at the other.

All Alumnae Reunion Luncheon/Meeting - Alumnae from all class years gather together to network with each other. The guest speaker is usually a distinguished Alumna. There is also a performance by a student group.

Additional school events
  • Father-Daughter Dance
  • Winter Dinner Formal
  • Soph Hop
  • Junior Prom
  • Senior Prom
  • Zero Day
  • Junior Book Awards
  • Move Up Day

School song

The school song has two parts. Alma Mater was written by Grade Gordon (1906) and music by F. Edna Davis (1906). Fidelitas was written by Emily Loman in June 1915.

Alma Mater

Hail to our Alma Mater,

Her Glory be our pride;

Truth is her firm foundation;

She is our friend and guide.

Hail! all hail!

Hail! all hail!

Girls' High School, we praise thee,

Hail! all hail!

Fame to our Alma Mater,

Thousands of voices ring;

Telling of love we bear her;

To her we laurels bring.

Hail! all hail!

Hail! all hail!

Girls' High School we praise thee,

Hail! all hail!

Fidelitas

Shout on high the ringing praises,

    Loyal, strong and true.

Bring we to our Alma Mater,

   Trust and honor due.

Other off'rings have we none,

    Save our love for thee;

Then accept this one oblation,

    Our fidelity.

Guide and mentor of our school days,

    Shield us in the right.

Lead and help us onward o'er

    The stepping stones to light.

Still before us gleams thy motto.

    May its lesson plain,

"Vincit qui se vincit," aid us

    "Life's real goal to gain.

"Vincit qui se vincit," aid us

    Life's real goal to gain.

School uniforms

Beginning in 2011, students were required to wear school uniform
School uniform
A school uniform is an outfit—a set of standardized clothes—worn primarily for an educational institution. They are common in primary and secondary schools in various countries . When used, they form the basis of a school's dress code.Traditionally school uniforms have been largely subdued and...

s. All tops must be white and show the Girl's High emblem. Bottoms must be black.

Notable alumnae

  • C. Delores Tucker
    C. Delores Tucker
    C. DeLores Tucker was a U.S. politician and civil rights activist best known for her participation in the Civil Rights Movement and stance against gangsta rap music.-Early life:...

     - Civil rights activist, first African-American Secretary of State in Pennsylvania 1971 - 1977
  • Elaine Brown
    Elaine Brown
    Elaine Brown is an American prison activist, writer, singer, and former Black Panther leader who is based in Oakland, California. She is a former chairperson of the Black Panther Party. Brown briefly ran for the Green Party presidential nomination in 2008...

     - First woman head of the Black Panther Party
    Black Panther Party
    The Black Panther Party wasan African-American revolutionary leftist organization. It was active in the United States from 1966 until 1982....

  • Constance Clayton - First woman and first African American superintendent of schools in Philadelphia 1983 - 1994, educator
  • Shirley Franklin
    Shirley Franklin
    Shirley Clarke Franklin is an American politician, a member of the Democratic Party, and served as mayor of Atlanta, Georgia from 2002 to 2010...

     - First woman mayor of Atlanta, GA
  • Judith Rodin
    Judith Rodin
    Judith Rodin was the 7th president of the University of Pennsylvania from 1994 to 2004 and the first permanent female president of an Ivy League university. She is currently the president of the Rockefeller Foundation, a position she has held since 2005. A University of Pennsylvania alumna, she...

     - First permanent (non-acting) woman president of the Ivy League
    Ivy League
    The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...

     universities (University of Pennsylvania
    University of Pennsylvania
    The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

    )
  • Virginia Knauer
    Virginia Knauer
    Virginia Harrington Knauer was a American Republican politician. She served as the Special Assistant to the President for Consumer Affairs and Director of the U.S. Office of Consumer Affairs...

     - Economic advisor to three U.S. Presidents
  • Barbara Chase-Riboud
    Barbara Chase-Riboud
    Barbara Chase-Riboud is an American novelist, poet, sculptor and visual artist, perhaps best known for her historical fiction. Much of her work has explored themes related to slavery and exploitation of women....

     - Author, sculptor and poet. Winner of the 1979 Janet Heidiger Kafka Prize
    Janet Heidiger Kafka Prize
    The Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize is annually awarded for fiction by an American woman.The Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender and Women's Studies and the Department of English at the University of Rochester have awarded the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize for fiction by an American woman since...

    . Wrote one of the first fictional accounts of the sexual relationship between Sally Hemings
    Sally Hemings
    Sarah "Sally" Hemings was a mixed-race slave owned by President Thomas Jefferson through inheritance from his wife. She was the half-sister of Jefferson's wife, Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson by their father John Wayles...

     and President Thomas Jefferson
    Thomas Jefferson
    Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...

    .
  • Howardena Pindell
    Howardena Pindell
    Howardena Pindell, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 14, 1943, to Howard and Mildred Douglas, is an American abstract artist. Her work explores texture, color, structures, and the process of making art; it is often political, addressing the issues of racism, feminism, violence, slavery,...

     - Painter
  • Hon. Dolores Korman Sloviter
    Dolores Sloviter
    Dolores Korman Sloviter is a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Born to a Jewish-American family in 1932 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she attended Philadelphia High School for Girls. She graduated from Temple University in 1953 with an A.B. and received her J.D. in...

     - Judge and first woman to become Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
  • Helen Hanff - Best-selling author, playwright, and television scriptwriter
  • Edith Grossman
    Edith Grossman
    Edith Grossman is an award-winning American translator specializing in English versions of Spanish language books. She is one of the most important translators of Latin American fiction in the past century, translating the works of Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel laureate Gabriel García...

     - Educator, critic, and renowned translator of Spanish into English of works of modern Latin American literature
  • Julie Gold
    Julie Gold
    Julie Gold is a New York singer-songwriter. She is best known for Bette Midler's version of her song "From a Distance" which won the Grammy for Song of the Year in 1991....

     - Songwriter, author of "From a Distance", which was sung by Bette Midler
    Bette Midler
    Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...

  • Zoe Strauss
    Zoe Strauss
    -Biography:Born in Philadelphia, Strauss was given a camera for her 30th birthday and started taking pictures of life in the city’s marginal neighborhoods. She is a photo-based installation artist who uses Philadelphia as a primary setting and subject for her work...

     - Photographer, artist
  • Gillian McDowell - Artist
  • Gloria Allred
    Gloria Allred
    Gloria Rachel Allred is an American lawyer noted for taking high-profile and often controversial cases, particulary those involving the protection of women's rights.-Early life:...

     - Noted Hollywood attorney
  • Bebe Moore Campbell
    Bebe Moore Campbell
    Bebe Moore Campbell , was the author of three New York Times bestsellers, Brothers and Sisters, Singing in the Comeback Choir, and What You Owe Me, which was also a Los Angeles Times "Best Book of 2001"...

     - Journalist and writer
  • Marietta Simpson - Opera singer
  • Hon. Lisa Richette
    Lisa Richette
    Lisa Aversa Richette was an American lawyer and judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia County. A lifelong Philadelphian, she was appointed to the bench in 1971...

     - Judge, writer, child welfare activist
  • Hon. Frederica Massiah-Jackson
    Frederica Massiah-Jackson
    Frederica Massiah-Jackson is a Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas judge. She served as President Judge from November 2000 to January 2006.Massiah-Jackson graduated from the Philadelphia High School for Girls in three years at the age of 16...

     - Judge, educator
  • Blondell Reynolds Brown
    Blondell Reynolds Brown
    Blondell Reynolds Brown is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party. She is currently serving her 3rd term as a member of Philadelphia City Council...

     - Philadelphia City Councilwoman At-Large
  • Jessie Redmon Fauset
    Jessie Redmon Fauset
    Jessie Redmon Fauset was an American editor, poet, essayist and novelist. Fauset was most known for being the editor of the NAACP magazine the Crisis. She also was the editor and co-author for the African American children magazine called Brownies' Book...

     - Harlem Renaissance writer
  • Leslie Esdaile Banks
    Leslie Esdaile Banks
    Leslie Esdaile Banks was an American writer. She wrote in various genres, including African American literature, romance, women's fiction, crime suspense, dark fantasy/horror and non-fiction...

     - Writer
  • Barbara Clementine Harris
    Barbara Clementine Harris
    Barbara Clementine Harris was the first woman ordained a bishop in the Anglican Communion.-Education:...

     - First woman ordained bishop
    Bishop
    A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

     in the Anglican church, civil rights
    Civil rights
    Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...

     activist
  • Ann Pilot - Principal harpist of the Boston Symphony
  • Jill Scott
    Jill Scott
    Jill Scott is an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter, poet, and actress. In 2007, Scott made her cinematic debut in the films Hounddog and in Tyler Perry's feature film, Why Did I Get Married? That year, her third studio album, The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3, was released on...

     - Recording artist and actress
  • Erika Alexander
    Erika Alexander
    Erika Alexander is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Pam Tucker on the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show, and as Maxine Shaw on the FOX sitcom Living Single. She has won numerous awards for her work on Living Single, including two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Actress in a...

     - Actress
  • Amina Robinson - Actress
  • Marcia Greenberger - Founder and Co-President of the National Women's Law Center
    National Women's Law Center
    The National Women's Law Center is a Washington, DC-based non-profit organization founded in 1972. Through litigation and policy initiatives, the Center strives to improve the lives of women and their families in the areas of health, employment, family economic security, and education...

  • Mary Schmidt Campbell
    Mary Schmidt Campbell
    Mary Schmidt Campbell, B.A., M.A., PH.D.; HON.: D.F.A., PH.D., Dean, Tisch School of the Arts; Associate Provost for the ArtsMary Schmidt Campbell was appointed Dean of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University in 1991 and Associate Provost for the Arts in December 2004.Campbell is also...

     - Dean of New York University
    New York University
    New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

    's Tisch School of the Arts
    Tisch School of the Arts
    Tisch School of the Arts is one of the 15 schools that make up New York University ....

    , art historian
  • Lucy Taxis Shoe Meritt
    Lucy Taxis Shoe Meritt
    Lucy Taxis Shoe Meritt was a classical archaeologist and a scholar of Greek architectural ornamentation and mouldings.-Biography:...

     - Archaeologist, first woman awarded a fellowship in art history by the American Academy in Rome
    American Academy in Rome
    The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo in Rome.- History :In 1893, a group of American architects, painters and sculptors met regularly while planning the fine arts section of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition...

    , renowned expert on Greek, Etruscan and Roman Architecture
  • Anna C. Alt-White, RN, PhD Nursing Leader - Program Director for Research in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs - Director of the Honor Society of Nursing, http://www.nursingsociety.org/Sigma Theta Tau
    Sigma Theta Tau
    The Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International exists to improve the health of people by increasing the scientific base of nursing research...

    ]
  • Lisa Angelettie - Psychotherapist & writer
  • Sharon I. Richie Ph.D., Col. Ret. U.S. Army - White House Fellows
    White House Fellows
    The White House Fellows program was established by President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson in October 1964. President Johnson articulated that the mission of the program was "to give the Fellows first hand, high-level experience with the workings of the federal government and to increase...

     1982-1983; Board member, Military Officers Association of America
  • Oren E. Whyche MBA, PMP - First Citibank Fellow, Columbia Graduate School of Business, 1977–1979; White House Fellows
    White House Fellows
    The White House Fellows program was established by President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson in October 1964. President Johnson articulated that the mission of the program was "to give the Fellows first hand, high-level experience with the workings of the federal government and to increase...

     1983-1984; Chairperson, Plan USA
  • Maria Donatucci
    Maria Donatucci
    Maria Donatucci is a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the 185th district, which includes parts of Delaware and Philadelphia counties. She was elected in February 2011.-Personal life:...

     - Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
    Pennsylvania House of Representatives
    The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two year terms from single member districts....

  • Shelley R. Smith - City Solicitor of Philadelphia, 2008-present

External links

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