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== Stephen Girard == Stephen Girard, whose 1831 bequest created the college, accumulated America's largest fortune through shipping, banking, and real estate. Born in France and immigrating to Philadelphia before the Revolution, Girard built a commercial empire that made him the nation's wealthiest citizen. His will devoted the bulk of his fortune to creating a school for orphaned boys, specifying in extraordinary detail the institution's governance, curriculum, and even architecture. Girard's prohibition on clergy entering the campus—reflecting his Enlightenment skepticism—generated controversy and legal challenges that reached the Supreme Court.<ref name="walter"/> The scale of Girard's bequest—approximately $6 million in 1831—enabled an institution of unprecedented ambition. The architectural grandeur that Walter achieved reflected both Girard's specifications and the available resources. Few educational institutions of any era have been founded with such wealth, and fewer still have been housed in buildings of such architectural distinction. Girard College thus represents a unique moment in American philanthropic and architectural history, when one man's fortune created an institution of lasting significance.<ref name="gallery"/>
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