Old South Church in Boston, Massachusetts, (also known as New Old South Church or Third Church) is a historic United Church of Christ congregation first organized in 1669. Its present building was designed in the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style by

Charles Amos Cummings Charles Amos Cummings (June 26, 1833 – August 11, 1905) was a nineteenth-century American architect and architectural historian who worked primarily in the Venetian Gothic style. Cummings followed the precepts of British cultural theorist ...

and

Willard T. Sears Willard Thomas Sears (November 5, 1837 – May 21, 1920) was a prominent New England architect of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who worked primarily in the Gothic Revival and Renaissance Revival styles. In 1861, Sears opened ...

, completed in 1873, and amplified by the architects

Allen & Collens Allen & Collens was an architectural partnership between Francis Richmond Allen and Charles Collens that was active from 1904 to 1931. ''See also:'' Allen had previously worked in the Boston-based partnerships Allen & Kenway (1878–91) and ...

between 1935–1937. The church, which was built on newly filled land in the Back Bay section of Boston, is located at 645

Boylston Street Boylston Street is a major east–west thoroughfare in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. The street begins in Boston's Chinatown neighborhood, forms the southern border of the Boston Public Garden and Boston Common, runs through Back Bay, and e ...

on Copley Square. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970 for its architectural significance as one of the finest High Victorian Gothic churches in New England. It is home to one of the oldest religious communities in the United States.

History of the congregation

Established in 1669, Old South Church is one of the older religious communities in the United States. It was organized by Congregationalist dissenters from Boston's First Church and was known as the Third Church (to distinguish it from the First and Second Congregational Churches in the city). The Third Church's congregation met first in their Cedar Meeting House (1670), then at the Old South Meeting House (1729) at the corner of Washington and Milk Streets in Boston. Old South Church Christmas Eve Services 2017

Old South Church Christmas Eve Services 2017

Members of the congregation have included founders Edward Raynsford, Thomas Savage, John Alden,

John Hull John Hull may refer to: Politicians *John Hull (MP for Hythe), MP for Hythe *John Hull (MP for Exeter) (died 1549), English politician *John A. T. Hull (1841–1928), American politician *John C. Hull (politician) (1870–1947), Speaker of the Mas ...

( mintmaster), Judith Quincy Hull and parishioners

Daniel Quincy Daniel Quincy (16511690), trained as a silversmith under John Hull, his uncle by marriage (Judith Quincy Hull). Daniel lived with John and Judith Hull from the age of seven and was trained in the Hull and Sanderson mint on Summer Street (Bosto ...

John Alden Jr. Capt. John Alden Jr. (ca. 1626 or 1627 –
homepages.rootsweb.com; accessed January 20, 2019.Samuel Adams, William Dawes, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Sewall, and Phillis Wheatley. In 1773, Samuel Adams gave the signals from the Old South Meeting House for the "war whoops" that started the Boston Tea Party. During the Unitarian Movement of the early 19th century, Old South was the sole Congregational Church in Boston to adhere to the doctrine of Trinitarianism. In 1816 Old South Church joined with Park Street Church to form the City Mission Society, a social justice society to serve Boston's urban poor. During the American Civil War, Old South became a recruiting center for the Union Army under minister Jacob Manning. Though the congregation was not entirely abolitionist, it strongly supported the Union cause. The conclusion of the Civil War was followed by an expansive time of increased inclusion for the congregation. Under minister George Angier Gordon the congregation moved from its meeting house at Washington Street to its Back Bay location in 1875, occupying the present church constructed on newly filled land. Old South's commitment to urban ministry and care continued on into the 20th century becoming a segue for the inclusion of new members increasingly diverse by race, class, and sexual orientation. The congregation has formally adopted a platform of equality, social justice, and peace.

Architecture

The church building was designed between 1870 and 1872 by the Boston architectural firm of

Cummings and Sears Cummings and Sears (est. 1864) was an architecture firm in 19th-century Boston, Massachusetts, established by Charles Amos Cummings and Willard T. Sears. History and legacy In the 1860s they kept an office in the Studio Building on Tremont Stre ...

in the Venetian Gothic style. The style follows the precepts of the British cultural theorist and architectural critic John Ruskin (1819–1900) as outlined in his treatise ''The Stones of Venice.'' Old South Church in Boston remains one of the most significant examples of Ruskin's influence on American architecture. The architects,

and

, also designed the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. The exterior of the church is primarily built of Roxbury Conglomerate commonly called puddingstone. Many arches, and several walls of stone, are striped with alternating courses of yellow-beige and deep red sandstone. The porticos and large open arches in the

campanile A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

are decorated with simple plate tracery. The upper arches of the porticos are decorated with screens of ornate wrought iron. The building is roofed in alternating bands of red and dark gray slate and the roofline finished with ornamental iron cresting.

Campanile

A tall tower, or ''

'', is the trademark feature of Old South and is visible from several Boston neighborhoods. The tower, on the western end of the church, rises to a height of 246' and houses the church's 2,020-pound bell. This is the second campanile built on the same site, designed by Allen & Collens it is similar to the 1875 design in its use of Moorish arches. The first tower, completed in 1875 along with the present Narthex and sanctuary, had begun to list by the late 1920s. The cause was determined to be the faulty footings and piles anchored in the soft former swampland. They were insufficient for the load of the tower. The congregation engaged the architectural firm of Allen & Collens to design a replacement campanile and a new chapel to be named in memory of the Reverend George Angier Gordon. The tower was dismantled, and early 1930s technology of steam shovel and steel pilings provided a lasting solution. Today, the pitch and height of the tower are tested annually and records attest to its enduring stability. The bell wheel, which by motion of a heavy rope swings the large bell, had deteriorated by the late 20th century requiring that the bell be rung by an external hammer. A faithful reconstruction of the original 1931 bell wheel, installed in early fall 2006, returned Old South's bell to "full swing."

Lantern

Centered above the Sanctuary on the east side of the church is a copper clad cupola surrounded by twelve ornate gothic arched windows. This feature is reminiscent of the cupolas of the

Basilica of St. Mark The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark ( it, Basilica Cattedrale Patriarcale di San Marco), commonly known as St Mark's Basilica ( it, Basilica di San Marco; vec, Baxéłega de San Marco), is the cathedral church of the Catholic Pat ...

in Venice. While the lantern provides a striking visual presence, it was also built with function in mind. In the days before mechanical fans and air conditioning, a series of mechanically operated louvers allowed for window panels to be opened to help cool the sanctuary inside.

Decorative arts

The interior of Old South is exuberant yet quietly modulates the mix of rich materials: highly carved Italian cherry woodwork, limestone, stenciled plaster, and stained glass. The sanctuary is entered from the narthex through a screen carved in the Venetian Gothic style from French ''

Caen limestone Caen stone (french: Pierre de Caen) is a light creamy-yellow Jurassic limestone quarried in north-western France near the city of Caen. The limestone is a fine grained oolitic limestone formed in shallow water lagoons in the Bathonian Age about 1 ...

''. Hidden among the carved foliage that decorates the screen can be found a squirrel, lizard, owl, and snail. A similar theme of animals is also found in the carving of the building's exterior. The interior of the chancel at the east end of the church, behind the choir, is faced by a running screen of wooden arches with ''

quatrefoil A quatrefoil (anciently caterfoil) is a decorative element consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially overlapping circles of the same diameter. It is found in art, architecture, heraldry and traditional ...

'' lunettes adapted from the upper arcade of the

Doge's Palace The Doge's Palace ( it, Palazzo Ducale; vec, Pałaso Dogal) is a palace built in Venetian Gothic style, and one of the main landmarks of the city of Venice in northern Italy. The palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice, the supreme auth ...

in Venice. The stained glass windows are by the English stained glass manufacturers Clayton and Bell and were produced in the style of 15th-century English glass.

1875 Cummings and Sears interior

When Old South's church opened in 1875 it looked very much as it does today, based upon the design of Cummings and Sears. The walls were decorated in polychrome stenciling in shades of complex tertiary colors: a

rose madder Rose madder (also known as madder) is a red paint made from the pigment madder lake, a traditional lake pigment extracted from the common madder plant '' Rubia tinctorum''. Madder lake contains two organic red dyes: alizarin and purpurin. ...

background with overlays of ochre, bay leaf green, warm gray, and persimmon, and highlights of metallic gold. Most of the interior structure, except for the carved wood frieze along the balconies, was already in place by 1875. High above the crossing of the transepts and nave is the lantern, or cupola. The ceiling of the lantern was painted a deep

Prussian blue Prussian blue (also known as Berlin blue, Brandenburg blue or, in painting, Parisian or Paris blue) is a dark blue pigment produced by oxidation of ferrous ferrocyanide salts. It has the chemical formula Fe CN)">Cyanide.html" ;"title="e(Cyanid ...

with a pattern of gilded stars to represent the firmament of God. The limestone tracery of the west wall of the sanctuary, with its foliage and animals, combined with the highly carved foliated woodwork and the overhead representation of the nighttime sky was intended to echo God's creation. Above the doors on the east chancel walls are glass mosaics of the tree of life by

Antonio Salviati Antonio Salviati (18 March 1816 – 25 January 1890) was an Italian glass manufacturer and founder of the Salviati family firm. Biography A native of Vicenza, Salviati was a lawyer who became interested in glass work after participating in re ...

. A third mosaic by Salviati originally hung in the tympanum above the tower's front doors. That mosaic was relocated to the vestibule when the tower was rebuilt 1922-1937. The combined effect was extremely rich; at once a spiritual and sensuous experience, and in great contrast to the chaste interior of Old South Meeting House on Washington Street. Stylistically the 1875 interior was in harmony with the Ruskinian Gothic exterior, and expressed Ruskin's ideal that it is "in art that the heart, the head, and the hand of a man come together."

1905 Tiffany interior

In 1905 the congregation engaged Louis Comfort Tiffany to redecorate the sanctuary. Tiffany headed a group of artisans called the Associated Artists who worked largely in a style now described as the

Aesthetic Movement Aestheticism (also the Aesthetic movement) was an art movement in the late 19th century which privileged the aesthetic value of literature, music and the arts over their socio-political functions. According to Aestheticism, art should be prod ...

. Tiffany was a part of an emerging American view of design in the United States, increasingly taking fewer cues from Europe. Tiffany had decorated Mark Twain's home in Hartford, Connecticut, the state rooms at the White House, and several Back Bay homes. In some ways Tiffany was an expected choice to redecorate Old South. He followed many of the ideas of John Ruskin; he believed in the dignity and importance of the human hand and eye in the decorative arts. Yet Tiffany arrived at Old South at a time when his gilded age style had begun a decline. A new wave of neoclassicism called Beaux-Arts, and the Colonial Revival style were replacing Victorian ornament with a simpler classicism. Theodore Roosevelt's 1902 White House renovation removed all of the Tiffany influence. In Tiffany's redecoration, Old South's stained glass windows were covered by insets of translucent tinted purple glass. The original polychrome stenciled plaster walls were painted purple, then stenciled in a series of geometric patterns with metallic silver paint intended to appear as mother of pearl inlay. Similar to Tiffany's work at Mark Twain's Hartford, Connecticut home, or his design for the White House's Red Room. The resulting work at Old South was a highly ornamented visual experience, unified by a limited color palette.

1950s minimalism

Old South Church (interior), Boston, Massachusetts

In the early 1950s, possibly influenced by the minimalism of the

International Style International style may refer to: * International Style (architecture), the early 20th century modern movement in architecture *International style (art), the International Gothic style in medieval art *International Style (dancing), a term used in ...

, a second renovation of the Sanctuary took place. The mid-20th-century renovation largely ignored the architectural history of the church. Louis Comfort Tiffany's paint and stenciling was obscured by a coat of light gray paint, and the purple Tiffany glass installed over the stained glass was removed. The

oculus Oculus (a term from Latin ''oculus'', meaning 'eye'), may refer to the following Architecture * Oculus (architecture), a circular opening in the centre of a dome or in a wall Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Oculus'' (film), a 2013 American ...

of the cupola was closed up. In some ways the removal of decoration recalled the congregation's Puritan roots.

Recognition and restoration

Old South Church's building was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1970. In 1984 a research-driven restoration was begun. The period of the building's construction was adopted, using old photographs and engravings as sources, and paint analysis to replicate original colors, the interior spaces were returned closely to their 1875 appearance. Walls were repainted rose madder and the original Cummings and Sears' stencil patterns were recreated. The cupola was reopened, once more admitting light to the Sanctuary below. Polychrome stenciling repeated the original palette of ochre, bay leaf green, warm gray, and persimmon with metallic gold.

Organ

The church's present organ, ''Opus 308,'' was built in 1921 by E. M. Skinner & Company of Boston for the Municipal Auditorium Theater in St. Paul, Minnesota, and brought to the church in 1985 when that building was demolished. Originally 82 ranks and 5,728 pipes, it now has 115 ranks and 7,625 pipes ranging from to in length. The church had previously installed another Skinner organ in 1915; its successful inaugural concert series featured organists William C. Hammond, Gaston Dethier,

Edwin Arthur Kraft Edwin Arthur Kraft (January 8, 1883 - July 15, 1962) was an American organist and choir-director. Biography Kraft was born in New Haven, Connecticut on January 8, 1883. At age 15 he became organist at New Haven's Grace Methodist Church, and soon a ...

, Charles Heinroth, and T. Tertius Noble. The organ console is located behind the pulpit and is on a hydraulic platform so that it may be raised for concerts and recessed for worship services. The organ's pipes are located behind and to the right and left of the chancel and also at the back of the rear balcony above the entrance to the Sanctuary (32' and chamade). Ten ornately painted wooden pipes are mounted at the front of each side balcony. In December 2008, construction at the adjacent

MBTA The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...

Copley station created a crack in the church's exterior and damage in the sanctuary. Out of fear that its use might cause further damage, the organ was not used from then until just before Easter in 2009.

Bay Psalm Book

Old South Church is the owner of one of eleven remaining first-edition copies of the Bay Psalm Book. The Bay Psalm Book, printed in 1640 by Stephen Daye, "was the first book printed in the what became the United States." Until 2013, when one copy was sold at auction to David Rubenstein, Old South Church owned two of the eleven first-edition copies. Old South Church's copy of the Bay Psalm Book is currently housed in the Rare Books Department of the

Boston Public Library The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, founded in 1848. The Boston Public Library is also the Library for the Commonwealth (formerly ''library of last recourse'') of the Commonweal ...

.Boston Public Library, Special Collections List http://www.bpl.org/research/special/collections.htm Retrieved October 23, 2016

Senior ministers

To date twenty ministers have served Old South's congregation as Senior Minister; they are: ;At Cedar Meeting House: *

Thomas Thacher Thomas Thacher (May 3, 1850 – July 30, 1919) was an American lawyer. Life Thomas Thacher was born in New Haven, Connecticut on May 3, 1850. He was a descendant of the Rev. Peter Thacher, the rector of St. Edmonds, Salisbury, England; and of hi ...

1670-1678 *

Samuel Willard Samuel Willard (January 31, 1640 – September 12, 1707) was a New England Puritan clergyman. He was born in Concord, Massachusetts, graduated from Harvard College in 1659, and was minister at Groton from 1663 to 1676, before being driven out by ...

1678-1707 *

Ebenezer Pemberton Ebenezer Pemberton (1746 – June 25, 1835) was an American educator and 2nd Principal of Phillips Academy Andover from 1786 to 1793. Refusing to follow his uncle's wishes to become a clergyman, Pemberton pursued a teaching career that would ...

1700-1717 * Joseph Sewall 1713-1769 * Thomas Prince 1718-1730 ;At Old South Meeting House: * Thomas Prince 1730-1758 * Alexander Cumming 1761-1763 * Samuel Blair 1766-1769 * John Hunt/John Bacon 1771-1775 * Joseph Eckley 1779-1811 *

Joshua Huntington Joshua Huntington (31 January 1786 in Norwich, Connecticut – 11 September 1819 in Groton, Massachusetts) was a United States clergyman. Biography He was a son of Jedidiah Huntington, a general in the Continental Army during the American Rev ...

1808-1819 * Benjamin B. Wisner 1821-1832 (departed in 1832 to become a Corresponding Secretary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions) * Samuel H. Stearns 1834-1836 * George W. Blagden 1836-1872 * Jacob M. Manning 1857-1882 ;At Old South Church * George Angier Gordon 1884-1927 * Russell Henry Stafford 1927-1945 * Frederick M. Meek 1946-1973 * James W. Crawford 1974-2002 * Carl F. Schultz Jr. 2002-2005 (Interim) * Nancy S. Taylor 2005-

References

* Aldrich, Megan. ''Gothic Revival.'' Phaidon Press Ltd: 1994. . * Bunting, Bainbridge. ''Houses of Boston's Back Bay: An Architectural History, 1840-1917.'' Belknap Press of Harvard University Press: 1967. . * Hitchcock, Henry-Russell. ''Architecture: Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries.'' Yale University Press, Penguin History of Art, Second edition: 1963. . * Hill, Hamilton Andrews. ''History of the Old South Church (Third Church) Boston, 1669–1884.'' Houghton, Mifflin and Company, The Riverside Press: 1890. * Bigelow, George Frederick. ''An Historical Catalogue History of the Old South Church (Third Church)'' Private Distribution: 1883. * O'Gorman, James F. ''On the Boards: Drawings by Nineteenth-Century Boston Architects.'' University of Pennsylvania Press:1989. . * Placzek, Adolf K. Macmillan. ''Encyclopedia of Architects.'' 4 vols. Free Press: 1982. . * Shand-Tucci, Douglas. ''Built in Boston: City and Suburb, 1800–2000.'' The University of Massachusetts Press: 1999. . * Waters, Henry Fritz-Gilbert. "Genealogical gleanings in England." ''The New England Historical and Genealogical Register." Vols. 37-52, 1883-98. * Withey, Henry F. ''Biographical Dictionary of American Architects (Deceased).'' Hennessey & Ingalls: 1970. * ''History of the Old South Church of Boston.'' Published for the benefit of the Old South Fund: 1890.

External links

Old South Church in Boston
official website
''The Diaries of John Hull, Mint-master and Treasurer of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay''

Satellite image of Old South Church

at the site of the United Church of Christ

Boston history and architecture
* 2007 {{Authority control 19th-century United Church of Christ church buildings Bell towers in the United States Church buildings with domes Churches completed in 1874 Churches in Boston Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Cummings and Sears buildings Gothic Revival church buildings in Massachusetts Landmarks in Copley Square Members of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches National Historic Landmarks in Boston National Register of Historic Places in Boston Stone churches in Massachusetts Towers in Massachusetts United Church of Christ churches in Massachusetts Venetian Gothic architecture in the United States