John Gearhart Interview

We understand you grew up in an orphanage in Philadelphia. How did that come about?

John Gearhart: This was a decision that my mother had made following the death of my dad, who was a coal miner in Western Pennsylvania and I was placed in an institution called Girard College, which is sort of a strange name, but it was one that was set up by Steven Girard who was a banker and merchant and mariner, who funded the War of 1812 almost solely by himself, which is interesting. A very wealthy man and he had set up an orphanage, and so I was placed there for ten years.
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I spent ten years in the inner city in Philadelphia from 1950 to 1960.

What ages were you then?

John Gearhart: From six to 16 or 17, from first grade through high school.

Did you have brothers or sisters?

John Gearhart: I have two brothers, one older and one younger. The older one was sent away as well and the younger one remained with my mother for that period.

What was it like in the orphanage? What sort of education did you get there?

John Gearhart: I was in an accelerated group within the class in 12th grade, and all of my classmates were going to college. It was a very good place to learn academically.

It was a regimented school kind of a thing and they had control of you for 24 hours a day. So you were up at study hall at 5:30 in the morning, then you would have breakfast, then you would go to school, and the academics were very rigorous and everyone did extremely well as you can imagine. I mean, in the evening you had another long study hall so you really learned some good kinds of habits which I would say I carry toady. I get up extremely early in the morning -- at 4:00 o'clock -- and I study and I read.
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This is when I do most of my stuff, so there are some good things that came out of that.

What person inspired you most as a young person?

John Gearhart: I don't know. My heroes were all athletes at that time. I lived in an all male institution. Testosterone levels were extremely high. Athletics was the big thing.

Who were your sports heroes? Any particular athletes?

John Gearhart: Oh sure. There were always the Mickey Mantles and any baseball or football stars, that kind of thing. No real heroes though.

We were disconnected, I mean from the world, in the sense that this institution had -- a remarkable place -- it had a wall that was 12 or 15 feet high. It was up the street from the Eastern State Penitentiary. It looked every bit like it. We were only allowed outside these gates for brief periods of time so it was really like a little, you know, sequestered -- although there were a thousand kids in there. It was a very isolated kind of a thing.
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