First Baptist Congregational Church

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Save America’s Treasures sites.

The First Baptist Congregational Church.
© 2004 - AAA Studios/Chicago.
Photo courtesy of the
First Baptist Congregational Church.

First Baptist Congregational Church of Chicago

1613 West Washington Boulevard

Chicago, IL

Website:  First Baptist Congregational Church of Chicago

The Treasure:  In the early 1870s, when Gothic Revival ideas were sweeping American architecture, the First Baptist Congregational Church (as it’s known today) building set a new standard for church design.

Accessibility:  A church known for its community involvement, First Baptist Congregational Church maintains a busy schedule of activities throughout the week. To fully experience the church, attend a service! There’s always a worship service at 11 a.m. on Sundays and sometimes an 8 a.m. service as well (since scheduling of the early service fluctuates, it’s best to call the church to check on the time). Reverend George W. Daniels, Senior Pastor, leads the services.

The front entrance to the First Baptist
Congregational Church shows the fine
craftsmanship of the carved stone work.

Background:  For over 140 years, this magnificent church building on Chicago’s West Washington Boulevard has celebrated the cycle of the Christian calendar, annually reflecting on the story of Jesus from Advent through Pentecost—that’s over 140 Christmases celebrated and over 140 Easters proclaimed. For tens of thousands of Chicagoans, it has been the backdrop for key life events: the baptisms, weddings, and funerals that mark our lives. Above all, it has been a center of community.

The story of the church begins ten years before the outbreak of the Civil War, a time when tensions ran high throughout the country. At Chicago’s Third Presbyterian Church, 48 congregation members announced they were leaving as a protest against the General Assembly’s weak position on slavery. They were led by Philo Carpenter, a successful entrepreneur known as Chicago’s first druggist, who already knew much about church planting, having started two churches previously. The small group of dissenters organized a new church—the First Congregational Church—which initially met in a small wooden chapel. Standing by the abolitionist principles that brought it into being, the new church provided a welcoming Underground Railroad stop for escaped slaves.

The area around the new church grew wealthier during the Civil War. When the church building burned down in 1869, the congregation had the means and resources to build something more ambitious. They hired architect Gurdon P. Randall who took this opportunity to creatively borrow the best ideas from the Gothic Revival style, popular among mainline Protestant denominations. Gothic Revival elements include a tower with a belfry, steeply pitched roofs, lancet windows, and amphitheater-style seating including gracefully curving balconies. The sanctuary plan brilliantly focused attention upon the pulpit, the communion table, and the large space reserved for the choir. Two years in construction from 1869 to 1871, the church (now renamed Union Park Congregational Church) became a new model for Protestant churches throughout the country and remains one of the earliest and finest intact examples of the Gothic Revival architectural style.

The communion table, pulpit, organ, and circular balcony.
© 2004 - AAA Studios/Chicago.
Photo courtesy of the First Baptist Congregational Church.

The final major signature addition to the church was the organ, installed in 1927. The largest pipe organ ever made, it was built by W.W. Kimball and Company, designed by Dr. William Lester, and donated as a gift to the church by Mr. and Mrs. Andrew R. Dole of Oak Park.

As the neighborhood continued to change, the church went through transformations as well. In 1970, the healthy and growing congregation of the nearby Mozart Baptist Church moved into the old church, ensuring the continued stewardship of the venerable building while increasing its ability to fully serve the neighborhood. Under the leadership of the late Dr. Arthur D. Griffin and the current Senior Pastor, Reverend George W. Daniels, the First Baptist Congregational Church has flourished, maintaining the church’s time-honored traditions of social activism and outreach.

Stained glass windows and theater-style seating.
© 2004 - AAA Studios/Chicago.
Photo courtesy of the First Baptist Congregational Church.

Other Recommended Sites:  The church founded by Philo Carpenter in 1851 quickly became an important way station on the Underground Railroad. Throughout the country, increasing attention has been made to preserving important and representative sites associated with the Underground Railroad. The National Park Service manages 66 sites that tell the story of the Underground Railroad. For a nice introduction to key Illinois sites, visit the Illinois Underground Railroad website, paying special attention to the “Places” list on their Websites page.

The main sanctuary at First Baptist Congregational Church, showing the
amphitheater-style seating and the grand organ.
© 2004 - AAA Studios/Chicago.
Photo courtesy of the First Baptist Congregational Church.

© 2012 Lee Price

Poetry Magazine Archive

View University of Chicago Library in a larger map

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Save America’s Treasures sites.

The first issue of Poetry: A Magazine of Verse,
published in October 1912.

Poetry Magazine Archive

Special Collections Research Center

University of Chicago Library

1100 East 57th Street

Chicago, IL

Website:  Harriet Monroe Modern Poetry Collection

Guide to the Poetry (a finding aid to the collection)

Poetry Foundation (publisher of Poetry magazine)

The Treasure:  The Special Collections Research Center at the University of Chicago preserves approximately 120,000 pages of manuscripts, letters, and editorial files from the first fifty years (1912-1961) of Poetry magazine, including historic documents from many of the world’s most acclaimed 20th century poets.

Accessibility:  The Special Collections Research Center is open Monday through Friday from 9 to 4:45, and on Saturday mornings while classes are in session. Changing exhibits highlight material from their many collections. Consult their website for information on requesting copies of collection material for research purposes.

Background:  The first issue of Poetry: A Magazine of Verse was published in October 1912, offering poets a quality home for the publication of serious and progressive poetry. Founder Harriet Monroe (1860-1936) launched the magazine with high ambitions. “The Open Door will be the policy of this magazine,” she wrote at the time. “(M)ay the great poet we are looking for never find it shut, or half-shut, against his ample genius! To this end the editors hope to keep free from entangling alliances with any single class or school. They desire to print the best English verse which is being written today, regardless of where, by whom, or under what theory of art it is written.”

Completed microfilm reels of the
Poetry Magazine Archive.
Photo courtesy of the
University of Chicago Library.

In that first year, Monroe named American poet Ezra Pound as foreign editor, publishing two of his poems in the magazine’s first issue. With his ear for talent, Pound encouraged submissions by James Joyce, Robert Frost, D.H. Lawrence, W.B. Yeats, and H.D. Most notably, he recommended publication of “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by the previously unpublished poet T.S. Eliot. Published in the June 1915 issue, “Prufrock” marked a pivotal moment in the development of modern poetry.

Throughout its century-long existence, Poetry has remained at the forefront of innovations in modern poetry, including the Modernist, Imagist, and Objectivist movements. Among the hundreds of significant poems published by Poetry, some of the most famous include “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks, “Chicago” by Carl Sandburg, “Sunday Morning” by Wallace Stevens, “anyone lived in a pretty how town” by E.E. Cummings, and “Fever 103°” by Sylvia Plath. Other acclaimed poets published in its pages include Langston Hughes, W.H. Auden, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Marianne Moore, Elizabeth Bishop, William Carlos Williams, and Allen Ginsburg.

But Harriet Monroe’s goal for Poetry was never to promote the work of the famous and established. Above all, she wanted to encourage new poets and new audiences for them. This desire continues to drive work at the magazine today. Despite the rigorous review that all submissions must go through, Poetry maintains its commitment to new poets, with over a third of their published poetry generally coming from previously unpublished writers.

Completed microfilm reels of the Poetry Magazine Archive.
Photo courtesy of the University of Chicago.

Notes from the Editor:  Poetry turned 100 in 1912, celebrating the occasion with the publication of The Open Door: 100 Poems, 100 Years of Poetry Magazine. In his review of The Open Door, the National Post’s poetry columnist Michael Lista wrote, “In many ways this is a radically democratic anthology — to get in you don’t need to be famous, you just need to be good.” You couldn’t ask for a better testament to Harriet Monroe’s original ideals for the magazine.

Other Recommended Sites:  While visiting the University of Chicago, check out their three museums. The Smart Museum of Art has a permanent art collection that spans five millennia, the Oriental Institute Museum is the university’s museum dedicated to the study of the ancient Near East, and the Renaissance Society is a modern art gallery that offers free exhibitions and performances.

The January 2012 issue of Poetry,
celebrating 100 years of publication.

Tour America's History Itinerary

Friday’s destination:  First Baptist Congregational Church

© 2012 Lee Price

Riverside Water Tower

View Riverside Water Tower in a larger map

Visit our Tour Destination: Illinois page to see the entire tour of the state’s
Save America’s Treasures sites.

The Riverside Water Tower, circa 1915, after it was rebuilt and painted
following a 1913 fire.  Photo courtesy of the Riverside Historical Museum.

Riverside Water Tower

10 Pine Avenue

Riverside, IL

Website:  Riverside Historical Museum

The Treasure:  A charming Swiss Gothic water tower is the centerpiece of Riverside, one of the first (and most artistically designed) planned communities in the country.

Background:  In 1868, the Riverside Improvement Company commissioned the firm of Olmsted, Vaux & Co. to develop a plan for “a perfect village in a perfect setting.” Here is the general plan drawn up by the firm’s principals, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux:

The 1869 General Plan of Riverside by Olmsted, Vaux & Co., Landscape Architects.
Image courtesy of the Riverside Historical Museum.

The choice of Olmsted, Vaux & Co. demonstrates the great ambition behind the Riverside Improvement Company. They wanted their little suburban community, located just two miles outside the Chicago city limits, to shine and so they retained the services of Frederick Law Olmsted, fresh off his acclaimed work on New York City’s Central Park.

Olmsted rejected the grid systems that many American towns were based upon. Note how there are few right angles in this plan—the town gracefully takes its contours from the curves of the DesPlaines River. The details include picturesque green parkways and cobblestone gutters. Even within the main areas designated for development, many triangular islands of parkland are dispersed. The proposed lots were large (typically 100’ x 200’), with recommendations to encourage residents to plant trees in their yards.

In keeping with their bold plan for creating a perfect village, the Riverside Improvement Company decided to splurge on a state-of-the-art water tower that would assert the forward-looking nature of the community. To design the water tower, Olmsted recommended William Le Baron Jenney, an innovative architect who would soon achieve international fame with his steel-frame design of Chicago’s Home Insurance Building, generally recognized as the world’s first skyscraper.

Jenney adopted a fanciful Swiss Gothic design for the Riverside Water Tower. Rising 70 feet high from a sloping stone base, the main shaft of the Water Tower was accented with decorative red and cream brick. Beneath the cone-shaped slate roof, an observation deck offered attractive views of Riverside and nearby Chicago. Inside the Water Tower, the engine room was fitted with the latest in steam-driven pumps.

The Water Tower fire of January 1913.
Photo courtesy of the Riverside Historical Museum.

Olmsted’s direct involvement with the village was short-lived as the Riverside Improvement Company went broke in the early 1870s. Nevertheless, his plan for the town was largely adopted by the newly incorporated Village of Riverside. In 1913, a fire destroyed much of the Water Tower, but the village rebuilt it, increasing its height and replacing the steam pumps with a new electrical system. The 2003 Save America’s Treasures project restored the Water Tower to its 1913 appearance with a renovation of such quality that it received a 2006 Design Excellence Distinguished Award from the American Institute of Architects.

Other Recommended Sites:  Learn more about the village’s history at the Riverside Historical Museum, located in the East and West Well Houses on Centennial Square next to the Water Tower. And print out the museum’s two-page self-guided walking tour to explore the village at leisure following a visit to the museum.

The original Riverside Water Tower and Well Houses as they looked
before the fire, circa 1899.
Photo courtesy of the Riverside Historical Museum.

Tour America's History Itinerary

Tuesday’s destination:  Poetry Magazine Archives

© 2012 Lee Price