Bok High: A football powerhouse

THE DOORS TO Edward W. Bok Technical High School have been open for 75 years. This week, the members of Bok's final graduating class will walk out those doors and into the world, taking with them bits of the school's character and history.

Bok's immense building, at 9th and Mifflin streets in South Philadelphia, was finished in 1938. The Art Deco-style building, designed by architect Irwin T. Catharine and made of yellow brick and limestone, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

The school was named after Dutch-born Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edward W. Bok, who was editor of Ladies' Home Journal for 30 years.

On Nov. 10, 1967, at least 12 students were threatened with expulsion after demonstrating in an attempt to get the school to offer a course in African-American history. Six days later, African-American leaders demonstrated at Bok and at seven other Philadelphia high schools, encouraging students to attend a rally the next day at the Board of Education building.

The Bok Wildcats have been a football powerhouse, winning the last five Public League championships, the last two under coach Frank "Roscoe" Natale. The Wildcats also enjoyed success in the 1950s, winning championships in 1950, '51, '52 and '54.

* Zach Womack, former contestant on the current season of Gordon Ramsay's cooking reality show "Hell's Kitchen."

* Faatimah Gamble, wife of record producer Kenny Gamble.

* Richard Neal, Philadelphia police commissioner, 1992-98.

* Actor Sherman Hemsley, better known as George Jefferson of "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons," attended Bok but didn't graduate.