Murrell Dobbins Career and Technical Education High School
Murrell Dobbins Career & Technical Education High School, also known as Murrell Dobbins Vocational High School, is a historic vocational school building located in the West Lehigh neighborhood of North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the School District of Philadelphia. The building was designed by Irwin T. Catharine and built between 1936–1937. It is a six- to seven-story, 14-bay, brick building in the Moderne-style. It has a one-story, stone front building. It features brick piers with terracotta tops and the building has terra cotta trim.[2]
Murrell Dobbins Career & Technical Education High School | |
Location | 2150 West Lehigh Ave., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
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Coordinates | 39°59′42″N 75°10′01″W |
Area | 2 acres (0.81 ha) |
Built | 1936–1937 |
Architect | Irwin T. Catharine |
Architectural style | Moderne, Art Deco |
MPS | Philadelphia Public Schools TR |
NRHP reference No. | 88002263[1] |
Added to NRHP | November 18, 1988 |
The school is the home of the Mustangs and the school colors are Flame and Steel. Murrell Dobbins offers 12 CTE programs: Barbering, Biotechnology, Building & Property Maintenance, Business Administration, Commercial & Advertising Arts, Computer Networking, Cosmetology, Culinary Arts, Digital Media, Fashion Design, Graphic Design, Music Production. Dobbins athletics consist of Football, Cross-Country, Volleyball, Soccer, Basketball, Indoor Track, Bowling, Cheerleading, Badminton, Baseball, Softball and Outdoor Track.[3]
History
The Dobbins building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.[1]
The namesake, Murrell H. Dobbins (1843-1917), was a New Jersey-born man who became a member of the Philadelphia school board.[4]
At one point the school had two campuses and was known as the Dobbins/Randolph Area Vocational Technical School.[5] It had absorbed the Randolph Skills Center,[6] named after Asa Philip Randolph.[7]
Notable alumni
- Benjamin Britt, surrealist painter
- Hank Gathers, college basketball player
- Gregory "Bo" Kimble, NBA player[8]
- Dawn Staley, head coach of women's basketball at University of South Carolina; 3-time Olympian
- Doug Overton, retired professional basketball player and current head coach of the Springfield Armor of the NBA Development League
- Jami M. Valentine, Ph.D., physicist, first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in physics from Johns Hopkins University; Dobbins class of 1992[9]
- Bobby Eli, Philly Soul guitarist, songwriter, producer, arranger; founding member of MFSB
- Thom Bell, Philly Soul songwriter, producer and arranger
External links
- Murrell Dobbins Career and Technical Education High School
- Dobbins CTE (webgui.phila.k12.pa.us/schools/d/dobbins/) at the Wayback Machine (archive index)
- Dobbins AVTS (phila.k12.pa.us/schools/dobbins) at the Wayback Machine (archive index)
References
- "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- "National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania" (Searchable database). CRGIS: Cultural Resources Geographic Information System. Note: This includes Jefferson M. Moak (May 1987). "Pennsylvania Historic Resource Survey Form: Murrell Dobbins Vocational School" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-06-16.
- Murrell Dobbins Career and Technical Education High School website
- "The Murrell H. Dobbins Story". Dobbins AVTS. 2007-01-08. Archived from the original on 2007-01-08. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
- "Basic Information". Dobbins/Randolph Area Vocational Technical School. 2007-01-08. Archived from the original on 2007-01-08. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
- "Gratz Cluster Schools". School District of Philadelphia. 1999-08-26. Archived from the original on 1999-08-26. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
- "The Asa Philip Randolph Story". Dobbins/Randolph Area Vocational Technical School. 2001-08-25. Archived from the original on 2001-08-25. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
- "Bo Kimble". Basketball-Reference.Com. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
- "Jami Valentine".