National Historic Landmark

Harper, Frances Ellen Watkins, House

Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
Listed
December 8, 1976
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
76001663

About this property

The Frances Ellen Watkins Harper House is a historic row house at 1006 Bainbridge Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Of uncertain construction date, it was the home of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911) from 1870 until her death. Harper was a prominent African-American abolitionist, women's rights and civil rights activist, and author. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976. The Frances Ellen Watkins Harper House stands in the Bella Vista neighborhood of South Philadelphia, at the southwest corner of Bainbridge and Alder Streets. It is the end unit of three rowhouses between Alder and Warnock Streets. It is a three-story masonry structure with no discernible architecture style. Its front is finished in brick, and the side wall facing Alder is stuccoed. The main facade is two bays wide, except the ground floor, where the main entrance is set in the leftmost of three bays. The ground floor brickwork shows evidence (supported by building documentation) of having been refaced after a commercial storefront had been installed. City building records do not give an indication of when this rowhouse was built. Map and title research indicates that it was here that Frances Harper lived from 1870 until her death in 1911. Harper's life spanned a great variety of activist causes, from abolition prior to the American Civil War to the quest for women's suffrage and African American civil rights in the wake of post-Reconstruction Jim Crow laws. She was a widely printed writer on these subjects, and traveled throughout the North before the Civil War, and in the South as well afterward, speaking on behalf of all of these causes. She also wrote fictional works depicting the conditions of African Americans in the South. List of National Historic Landmarks in Philadelphia National Register of Historic Places listings in South Philadelphia

Location

1006 Bainbridge St.
Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
39.94190, -75.15942

Categories

BLACKLITERATURESOCIAL HISTORY
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

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Nearby Battles

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Battle of Gloucester (NJ) 1777
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Fort Mercer siege Oct-Nov 1777
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4.6 mi
Fort Mercer (Battle of Red Bank)
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Questions about this property

When was Harper, Frances Ellen Watkins, House listed on the National Register?

Harper, Frances Ellen Watkins, House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 8, 1976.

What type of historic resource is Harper, Frances Ellen Watkins, House?

Harper, Frances Ellen Watkins, House is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

Is Harper, Frances Ellen Watkins, House a National Historic Landmark?

Yes. Harper, Frances Ellen Watkins, House has been designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL), the highest level of federal recognition for historic properties in the United States.

What is the period of significance for Harper, Frances Ellen Watkins, House?

The period of significance for Harper, Frances Ellen Watkins, House is recorded as the industrial era.

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