McCarty Memorial Christian Church

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McCarty Memorial Christian Church
McCarty Memorial Christian Church, Los Angeles edit1.jpg
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Location Los Angeles, California
Coordinates 34°2′6″N118°19′44″W / 34.03500°N 118.32889°W / 34.03500; -118.32889 Coordinates: 34°2′6″N118°19′44″W / 34.03500°N 118.32889°W / 34.03500; -118.32889
Built1932
Architect Barber, Thomas P.; Kingsbury, Paul
Architectural styleLate Gothic Revival
NRHP reference # 01001456 [1]
Added to NRHPJanuary 17, 2002

McCarty Memorial Christian Church is a Gothic Revival church of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) located at 4101 West Adams Boulevard in the historic West Adams district of Los Angeles, California. McCarty was founded in 1932 as a white congregation, and gained attention when it integrated and became a multi-racial congregation in the mid-1950s.

Gothic Revival architecture Architectural movement

Gothic Revival is an architectural movement popular in the Western world that began in the late 1740s in England. Its momentum grew in the early 19th century, when increasingly serious and learned admirers of neo-Gothic styles sought to revive medieval Gothic architecture, in contrast to the neoclassical styles prevalent at the time. Gothic Revival draws features from the original Gothic style, including decorative patterns, finials, lancet windows, hood moulds and label stops.

Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Mainline Protestant (religious) denomination

The Christian Church is a Mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. The denomination started with the Restoration Movement during the Second Great Awakening, first existing as a loose association of churches working towards Christian unity during the 19th century, then slowly forming quasi-denominational structures through missionary societies, regional associations, and an international convention. In 1968, the Disciples of Christ officially adopted a denominational structure at which time a group of churches left to remain nondenominational.

Racial integration Process of ending racial segregation

Racial integration, or simply integration, includes desegregation. In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws on diverse traditions, rather than merely bringing a racial minority into the majority culture. Desegregation is largely a legal matter, integration largely a social one.

Contents

Architecture

The church was built in 1932 in the English Gothic Revival style. Among the Church's notable features are stained glass windows with intricate Gothic tracery, arcaded ambulatories, and a 130-foot landmark tower with an elaborate open belfry. [2] The church was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in January 2002. Three months later, McCarty was one of 18 Los Angeles structures to be awarded a "Preserve L.A." grant from the J. Paul Getty Trust. The grant was provided to review historical documentation of the church, assess current materials and condition, and develop a maintenance plan and schedule. [2] The authors of An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles call McCarty an excellent example of the city's reinforced-concrete churches of the late 1920s and describe the architectural style as "Gothic, partially English, and partially French." [3]

Stained glass decorative window composed of pieces of coloured glass

The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensional structures and sculpture. Modern vernacular usage has often extended the term "stained glass" to include domestic lead light and objects d'art created from foil glasswork exemplified in the famous lamps of Louis Comfort Tiffany.

Tracery

In architecture, tracery is the stonework elements that support the glass in a Gothic window. The term probably derives from the 'tracing floors' on which the complex patterns of late Gothic windows were laid out. There are two main types, plate tracery and the later bar tracery. The evolving style from Romanesque to Gothic architecture and changing features, like the thinning of lateral walls and enlarging of windows lead to the innovation of tracery. The earliest form of tracery, called plate tracery, began as openings that were pierced from a stone slab. Bar tracery was then implemented, having derived from the plate tracery. However instead of a slab, the windows were defined by molded stone mullions which were lighter and allowed for more openings and intricate designs. Other notable styles of tracery to follow include geometrical tracery and curvilinear (flowing) tracery.

Arcade (architecture) covered walk enclosed by a line of arches on one or both sides

An arcade is a succession of contiguous arches, with each arch supported by columns, piers. Exterior arcades are designed to provide a sheltered walkway for pedestrians. The walkway may be lined with retail stores. An arcade may feature arches on both sides of the walkway. Alternatively, a blind arcade superimposes arcading against a solid wall. Blind arcades are a feature of Romanesque architecture that influenced Gothic architecture. In the Gothic architectural tradition, the arcade can be located in the interior, in the lowest part of the wall of the nave, supporting the triforium and the clerestory in a cathedral, or on the exterior, in which they are usually part of the walkways that surround the courtyard and cloisters.

History

Early history

The church was built and paid for by Dr. and Mrs. Isaac A. McCarty, who had traveled widely in the United States and Europe "studying church architecture against the time when they were ready to further the Kingdom of God." [4] The church was dedicated in May 1932 on the McCartys' 45th wedding anniversary. [5] The Los Angeles Times reported that the church was "built and furnished at a cost of $250,000 on a $30,000 site." [5] Dr. McCarty imported many of the interior features from Czechoslovakia. The Times called the church, designed by Thomas P. Barber and Paul Kingsbury, "one of the finest examples of pure Gothic architecture in America." [5] The dedication ceremony was attended by Los Angeles Mayor John Porter and Charles C. Chapman. [5] Dr. McCarty died two years later in May 1934, and his funeral was held at the church he built. [6]

<i>Los Angeles Times</i> Daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California

The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper which has been published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It has the fourth largest circulation among United States newspapers, and is the largest U.S. newspaper not headquartered on the East Coast. The paper is known for its coverage of issues particularly salient to the U.S. West Coast, such as immigration trends and natural disasters. It has won more than 40 Pulitzer Prizes for its coverage of these and other issues. As of June 18, 2018, ownership of the paper is controlled by Patrick Soon-Shiong, and the executive editor is Norman Pearlstine.

Czechoslovakia 1918–1992 country in Central Europe, predecessor of the Czech Republic and Slovakia

Czechoslovakia, or Czecho-Slovakia, was a sovereign state in Central Europe that existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until its peaceful dissolution into the Czech Republic and Slovakia on 1 January 1993.

Thomas P. Barber English-born American architecht

Thomas Pellatt Barber was an architect active in the Southwestern United States. Several of his works are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

The founding pastor at McCarty was Dr. Bruce Brown, who served as the pastor until 1942 and died in 1957. [7] Brown was succeeded by Dr. O. James Sowell, who was pastor from 1942 until 1952, when he left the church to become an evangelist. [8] He was next followed by the Rev. James Clark Brown, who served as pastor for seven months from 1952 to 1953. [9]

Integration under the Rev. Kring Allen

The Rev. Kring Allen was credited with successfully integrating the McCarty Church. Interviewed by the Los Angeles Times in 1967, Allen, who had been the pastor at McCarty since 1954, noted: "Our neighborhood is 85% Negro. So's our church, I would guess, although I don't know. You lose your color sense when you stop thinking about it. I lost mine." [10] When Allen arrived, the church's membership had dropped to 370 members, down from 1,500 in the 1930s. McCarty Church in 1954 was a faltering congregation, plagued by urban problems in a "changing neighborhood." [10] Allen brought plans that were considered "radical" at the time. He recalled, "I came with the understanding with my board here that this church was going to integrate or I wouldn't stay. ... When some of the board wanted to go in a segregated way, I said: 'I won't go that road, and if you go it, you go without me.' I spent most of the first six months in the public library, reading up on Negro history. ... We get brainwashed. We downgrade the Negro and upgrade the white. We fix our stereotypes. That's the trouble with most white people like me. I wrote a lot of churches asking for advice. The Riverside Church at New York ... told me to 'go slow, or you'll tear your church to pieces.' But I didn't want to go slow." [10] Things were difficult at first, but Allen recalled that things started to gel when he took 70 parishioners, black and white, to a camp in the San Bernardino Mountains where they "housed together, worked together, studied together." They came back from the camp as "a completely integrated nucleus." [10] He became an advocate for integration of churches, noting, "Integration is basic to the Gospel. ... The church is either going to pass through this fire, or the church has had it. There can be no more segregated churches. The whole movement of history is against it." [10]

San Bernardino Mountains mountain range in Southern California

The San Bernardino Mountains are a high and rugged mountain range in Southern California in the United States. Situated north and northeast of San Bernardino and spanning two California counties, the range tops out at 11,489 feet (3,502 m) at San Gorgonio Mountain – the tallest peak in all of Southern California. The San Bernardinos form a significant region of wilderness and are popular for hiking and skiing.

See also

People

Don A. Allen American politician

Not to be confused with Charles A. Allen, Los Angeles City Council member, 1941–47.

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References

  1. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. 1 2 "Getty's Preserve L.A. Initiative Awards Nearly $1.3 Million in Grants to 18 Local Projects". J. Paul Getty Trust. 2002-04-11.
  3. ↑ David Gebhard, Robert Winter (2003). An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles, p. 277. Gibbs Smith. ISBN   1-58685-308-2.
  4. ↑ "Let Us Go Into the House of the Lord: South Park Christians Will Get Church Gift; M'Cartys Donate $200,000 Edifice; Another New Temple to Open With Services Tomorrow". Los Angeles Times. 1931-05-30.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Let Us Go Into the House of the Lord: Christians Will Dedicate New Memorial Church; Services to be on Anniversary of Donors of Edifice, Dr. and Mrs. McCarty". Los Angeles Times. 1932-05-21.
  6. ↑ "Dr. M'Carty's Rites Tuesday: Services to be Conducted in Church he Built; Philanthropist Had Lived Long in California; Remains to Be Entombed in Inglewood Crypt". Los Angeles Times. 1934-03-24.
  7. ↑ "Dr. Brown's Funeral Today". Los Angeles Times. 1957-12-14.
  8. ↑ "Pastor to Enter Evangelist Field". Los Angeles Times. 1952-03-15.
  9. ↑ "MINISTER CLOSES HIS L.A. PASTORATE: Saints and Sinners Defined in Final Sermon at McCarty Memorial Church". Los Angeles Times. 1953-04-20.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Dan L. Thrapp (1967-02-18). "Pastor 'Lives Gospel' to Integrate His Church; The Rev. Kring Allen Brings Complete Race Harmony to McCarty Congregation". Los Angeles Times.
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