Boston Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, South
(U.S. National Historic Landmark)
Location:	Tulsa, Oklahoma  United States
Built/Founded:	1927-29
Architectural style(s):	Art Deco
Added to NRHP:	1978 (NHL January 20, 1999)

The Boston Avenue Methodist Church, located in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma and completed in 1929, is considered to be one of the finest examples of ecclesiastical Art Deco architecture in the United States, and has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1999. Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... This article or section needs additional references or sources to improve its verifiability. ... Boston Ave. ... Nickname: Location in the state of Oklahoma Coordinates: Country United States State Oklahoma Counties Tulsa, Osage, Wagoner, Rogers Government  - Mayor Kathy Taylor (D) Area  - City  186. ... Official language(s) None Capital Oklahoma City Largest city Oklahoma City Area  Ranked 20th  - Total 69,960 sq mi (181,196 km²)  - Width 230 miles (370 km)  - Length 298 miles (480 km)  - % water 1. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Year 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Asheville City Hall. ... A typical plaque showing entry on the National Register of Historic Places. ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ... January 20 is the 20th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar). ... Nickname: Location in the state of Oklahoma Coordinates: Country United States State Oklahoma Counties Tulsa, Osage, Wagoner, Rogers Government  - Mayor Kathy Taylor (D) Area  - City  186. ... A typical plaque showing entry on the National Register of Historic Places. ... This article or section needs additional references or sources to improve its verifiability. ...

History

The design of the US$1.25 million edifice is credited to two individuals: Adah Robinson and Bruce Goff. Robinson was an art teacher at Central High School in Tulsa, and eventually was chair of the art department in the University of Tulsa. Robinson sketched the original ideas for the church. Bruce Goff, formerly one of her high school students, and the architect in 1924-1926 of her home and studio, then took the sketches and came up with the design for the church. Officially, the architecture firm credited is Rush, Endacott and Rush where Goff apprenticed (from age 12 and became a partner in 1930). There is still some debate over who was more responsible for the building. The church credits Adah Robinson with the design of this building, while Goff experts maintain that it is clearly his design. The definitive book on the subject, Tulsa Art Deco [see References, below] says of that issue that "it is not the purpose of this book to offer a resolution to that controversy." ISO 4217 Code USD User(s) the United States, the British Indian Ocean Territory,[1] the British Virgin Islands, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Panama, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the insular areas of the United States Inflation 2. ... Bruce Alonzo Goff (June 8, 1904 – August 4, 1982) was an American architect. ... The University of Tulsa is a private, comprehensive university awarding bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar). ... Year 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The original building consisted of a semicircular auditorium, a soaring 225-foot (68.5 m) tower, and awing containing class rooms.. The soaring straight lines of the tower provide physical, visual, and philosophical linkage to the Gothic Cathedrals of past ages as well as allowing the designers to indulge in the Art Deco celebration of the vertical.

Tower detail

At the top of the tower, as well as on many of the other high points and used much in the same manner that churches in the Middle Ages utilized crockets and finials, is a stylized sculpture that represents two hands raised upward in prayer. This motif of praying hands is one that is echoed through out the building and is one of the areas of design that can be traced back to the early drawings by Robinson. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 432 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (564 × 782 pixel, file size: 351 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Photographer: User:camerafiend I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 432 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (564 × 782 pixel, file size: 351 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Photographer: User:camerafiend I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of...

While the building is in many ways unique, the idea of the large, semi-circular main auditorium has an earlier precursor in another Methodist church, Louis Sullivan's St. Paul's Methodist Church, designed in 1910 and built, somewhat modified, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1914. Louis Sullivan Louis Henry (Henri) Sullivan (September 3, 1856–April 14, 1924) was an American architect, called the father of modernism. He is considered by many as the creator of the modern skyscraper, was an influential architect and critic of the Chicago School, and was a mentor to Frank Lloyd... Year 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Cedar Rapids is the name of some places in the United States of America: Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids, Nebraska This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Capital Des Moines Largest city Des Moines Area  Ranked 26th  - Total 56,272 sq mi (145,743 km²)  - Width 310 miles (500 km)  - Length 199 miles (320 km)  - % water 0. ... Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

Like many Art Deco buildings the Boston Avenue Church reveled in the use of various different building materials, so metal, glass, terra cotta, Indiana limestone and Minnesota granite can all be found. The exterior is decorated with numerous terra cotta sculptures by the Denver sculptor, Robert Garrison, who had been a student of Adah Robinson's in Oklahoma City. These sculptures include several groups of people at prayer representing Spiritual life, Religious Education and Worship. In these groups again can be found the two hands together motif. Circuit Riders, Boston Methodist Church, Tulsa , Oklahoma American sculptor,born Fort Dodge, Iowa on May 30. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...

Circuit Riders

Above the south entrance are the equestrian Circuit Riders, statues of the early Methodists engaged in spreading the Good Word. Two of the three riders represent historic individuals, Bishop Francis Asbury, the first American Methodist bishop and Bishop William McKendrie, while the third figure, the one in the center, is symbolic of all the other men of God who did His bidding from horseback. The face one this rider was created by Garrison using the church minister's father-in-Law, the Rev. T.L. Darnell, of as his model. Rev. Darnell had in fact been a circuit rider for a half a century. Over the north entrance of the building there can be found idealized statues of John Wesley his brother Charles Wesley and Susanna Wesley, their mother. Other places on the exterior reveal classic art deco styles organic plant designs, which. like the stained glass windows were based on designs drawn from Oklahoma flora, most notably the tritomas and coreopsis flowers. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 397 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (528 × 796 pixel, file size: 377 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) photo by Einar Einarsson Kvaran Robert Garrison I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 397 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (528 × 796 pixel, file size: 377 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) photo by Einar Einarsson Kvaran Robert Garrison I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... John Wesley (June 28 [O.S. June 17] 1703 – March 2, 1791) was an eighteenth-century Anglican minister and Christian theologian who was an early leader in the Methodist movement. ... Charles Wesley (12 December 1707 - 29 March 1788) was a leader of the Methodist movement, the younger brother of John Wesley. ... Susanna Wesley, born Susanna Annesley, was the daughter of Dr. Samuel Annesley and the mother of John and Charles Wesley. ... Species many, see text Tickseed is the common name for the plant Coreopsis, a group of flowering plants in the Family Asteraceae and Genus Coreopis. ...

The building was not long in making an impression on the architectural world. Influential art critic of the day, Sheldon Chaney, allows it 5 pictures in his book [see References. below] and praises it saying that, "its detail is daringly new, its ornamental idioms fresh and vital, its masses fairly well sculpted and perfectly expressive of the plan," and adding, "But why for the Methodists?"

In 1978 the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1999. Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ... A typical plaque showing entry on the National Register of Historic Places. ... This article or section needs additional references or sources to improve its verifiability. ... Year 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar). ...

In 1993, murals were installed on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the congregation. They were designed by Chicago artist Angelo Gherardi who continued the Art Deco design to be consistent with the building's interior and exterior design.

The construction of a Columbarium inside the building was completed in 2000. Designed by Tulsa architect Roger Coffey, it allowed for the cremains of church members and their immediate family members to be interned there. The columbarium contains a 6 foot by 25 foot cut glass window created by Richard Bohm of the Tulsa Stained Glass company. Columbarium niches built into the side of St. ... The crematorium at Haycombe Cemetery, Bath, England. ...

A stone from the Boston Avenue United Methodist Church is one of the stones embedded in the walls of the Chicago Tribune Building, along with over 100 others picked from historic buildings and famous sites from around the world. This article is about the building in Chicago, Illinois. ...

The Boston Avenue Church contains a 105 rank Möller pipe organ, dedicated in 1962 at 72 playable ranks of pipes and expanded in 1986. The organ was further modified in 1995 by Daniel Angerstein. In 1999 a new Trompette-en-chamade was added. M. P. MÅ‘ller (M. P. MÅ‘ller, Inc. ... The baroque organ in Roskilde Cathedral, Copenhagen. ... En Chamade (French: to sound a parley) refers to powerfully voiced reed stops in a pipe organ that are mounted horizontally rather than vertically in the front of the organ case, projecting out into the church. ...

A complete stoplist for the organ can be found at The Organ Page for the Boston Avenue Church.

References

External links

• Boston Avenue
• Boston Avenue Methodist Church listing, Tulsa Preservation Commission website