WildIrish,
WAS over by the O'Leary place. It was pretty much totaled
Fire Destroys Landmark Chicago Church
By KAREN HAWKINS, Associated Press Writer
Sat Jan 7, 2:39 PM ET
CHICAGO - The architecture was majestic, the gospel choir was inspiring and services at the Pilgrim Baptist Church were so popular that worshippers in the 1930s and '40s had to show up an hour early to find a seat.
On Friday, the 115-year-old church, an integral part of the development of gospel music, was destroyed by a fire so intense that its flames and smoke could be seen from miles away. The fire gutted the church and collapsed its roof and steeple. The cause wasn't known.
"It was a landmark church. God, it was just so beautiful," said Lena McLin, who was baptized at Pilgrim as a 12-year-old in the early 1940s. "It was very spiritual you felt you were meeting the Lord there."
McLin's uncle was Thomas A. Dorsey considered the father of gospel music and Pilgrim was where he perfected his cross of the raw soulfulness of the blues with the sacred music of his youth. His all-time greatest hit, "Take My Hand, Precious Lord," was popularized by Mahalia Jackson and became a favorite of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
He was Pilgrim's music director from 1932 until the late 1970s. The church was designated a Chicago landmark in 1981.
Over the decades, the gospel stars who performed at Pilgrim included Jackson, Sallie Martin, James Cleveland and the Edwin Hawkins Singers. The funeral service for early 20th century boxing champion Jack Johnson was held at the church.
The congregation recently numbered about 300, but in its heyday in the 1940s it had about 10,000 members, said the Rev. Hycel B. Taylor, the church's former pastor.
It had been "the quintessential black megachurch," he said.
The church was a place where the famous architects Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler experimented with the features that made them famous such as vaulted ceilings, amazing acoustics and ornamental designs, such as the terra cotta panels with intricate foliage designs, said Ned Cramer, curator of the Chicago Architecture Foundation.
It was built as a synagogue between 1890 and 1891, but it has housed the Pilgrim congregation since 1922. The surrounding Bronzeville neighborhood was a vibrant hub for blacks during the first half of the 20th century.
"It's like hearing a close relative has died or a good friend. It's heartbreaking," said Cramer.
Though no one was injured in the blaze, it is feared the church's archives including old photographs and Dorsey's original sheet music were destroyed.
McLin said she's hopeful that Dorsey's wife might have sent some of those mementoes to Fisk University, where the family choose to deposit some of Dorsey's belongings. But she is sure a huge painting of her uncle whom she lived with as a child was destroyed.
Still, she said, she'll never forget the feeling of being in that church, surrounded by thousands of worshippers packed on the floor and the balcony, listening to gospel music.
"The spirit was just all over the place," she said.
Associated Press Writer Anna Johnson contributed to this report
This article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060107...ark_church_fire