Maps & Sites

There are many locations in the Philadelphia region that are part of the Catto story and Martin Luther King. Some are places where Catto lived, worked and walked the streets. Others are places that are commemorative of both men. This section provides a window into locations, past and present specific to Catto. Where possible historical images at or near Catto’s time are used to illustrate location. This provides an opportunity for this resource to be used the navigate the Philadelphia region and compare the past to the present. In addition, the Lessons Plans and Resource section of the web portal expands out locations to Martin Luther King and can help one to explore, teach and learn about the intersection of the two civil rights narratives, linking the 19th Century to the 20th Century.

The presentations here reflect the collaborative work of Amy Cohen, Education Director at History Making Productions, and her students in a Temple University social studies methods class with the Catto Education Initiative. Their participation is noted in narratives at the locations they worked on. Selected educational activities created from their work are incorporated throughout the Catto education portal, but specifically in Lesson Plans and Resources.

The inventory here also includes several schools that are connected to the Catto story, either because he attended them, they were named for him, or names for significant individuals in the Catto historical narrative. We’ve included these, because schools are important public monuments and can be a way to engage students and the public with civic issues. In Catto’s case, there are no public schools in Philadelphia bearing his name. The last to bear his name was the Catto Disciplinary School until it closed sometime in the 1980’s and the building reopened as the E. S. Miller Remedial/Disciplinary School.

Individuals interested in participating as volunteer contributors to expand the storytelling for Catto related civil rights sites, can send a request to: