Tiffany Glass Window

by Marla McPherson

Title

Tiffany Glass Window

Artist

Marla McPherson

Medium

Photograph - Digital Photograph

Description

This beautiful image features one of the beautiful stained glass windows from a local gem, St Paul's Church in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. The oldest church in the Cheltenham area, and one of the most significant Abolitionist and Civil War historic sites in the Delaware Valley, St. Paul’s was started in 1851 and built in the early 1860s by the generous vision of financier and abolitionist, Jay Cooke. Cooke was called the “Financial Savior of the Union” for his work selling war bonds. Around three billion dollars in war bonds passed over his desk, which now sits in the entrance to the church. Quaker social activist Lucretia Mott was a good friend and a fellow abolitionist. The two reportedly hid escaped slaves at an Underground Railroad Station on the nearby Cooke estate. During this time, St. Paul’s held the only regular worship services at nearby Camp William Penn, where troops of color were trained for the Union Army. After the Civil War, the church congregation was highly active in Reconstruction and Freedman’s work. During the Gilded Age (around 1870 to 1912), the storied Widener and Elkins families were active members. Artist Louis Comfort Tiffany designed and produced many of the glorious stained glass windows; including two as memorials for George and Harry Widener who went down in the Titanic. Louis Comfort Tiffany, one of the most creative and prolific designers of the late 19th century, declared that his life-long goal was “the pursuit of beauty.” St. Paul’s is fortunate to have thirteen spectacular windows by Tiffany Studios that illustrate this pursuit of beauty. The Widener, Elkins, and Fox families asked the Tiffany studios to create several memorial windows for St. Paul’s, including after the Widener and Elkins families lost members during the sinking of the Titanic. The earliest window was set in 1897, and the last in 1930. During this time, St. Paul’s was refurbished and expanded by Julian Abele, the first African-American architecture graduate at the University of Pennsylvania, and the unsung and storied chief designer for famed Philadelphia architect Horace Trumbauer. Amelia Earhart attended services at St. Paul’s while a student at the Ogontz school in 1916-17. In 1925, St. Paul’s basement was the birthplace of religious radio station WIBG (“Why I Believe in God”) Radio 99, which eventually became THE Philadelphia Top 40 radio station playing Rhythm and Blues music during the height of the Civil Rights era in the 1950s and 60s.

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December 26th, 2020

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Viewed 513 Times  -  Last Visitor from Wilmington, DE on 04/17/2024 at 5:19 PM

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