The Judson Memorial Church at 239 Thompson Street on the south side of Washington Square Park, New York City was designed by Stanford White of McKim, Mead and White 1892. It is a composite of Byzantine, Lombardo-Romanesque or Renaissance Italianate. The building materials are terracotta and brick. The stained glass by John La Farge are amazing.
In 1890 the preacher Edward Judson initiated construction of Judson Church as a memorial to his father Adoniram Judson, the first American Protestant foreign missionary. It was backed by John D. Rockefeller and other prominent Northern Baptists. Judson Memorial Church’s location was intended to unite the immigrants of the tenements to the south of the square with the wealthy upper classes. However, the established rich were not keen on rubbing shoulders with the immigrant poor and attendance declined.
From the 1950’s on the forward thinking ministers of the church helped foster the arts and racial and gay rights. One event I found interesting was Lenny Bruce’s memorial service on August 12, 1966. It was attended by Allen Garfield, The Fugs, Paul Krassner, C Sharp, Alan Ginsberg, Peter Orlovsky, to name a few. Lenny Bruce was famous for his comedy which integrated satire, politics, religion, sex, and vulgarity. He was convicted in 1964 of obscenity and posthumously pardoned.
- Judson Memorial Church – Wikipedia
- Judson Memorial Church – NYC Architecture (good pictures of interior)
- Judson Memorial Church historical overview
- Judson Memorial Church history
- Judson Memorial stained glass pictures
Created for Norm’s Thursday Doors March 30, 2017
Sherry Felix - port4u 
so cool 🙂
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Thanks
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Impressive! I love progressive story like this. The door that opens to everyone! Great images too, Sherry.
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Thanjs 🙂
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Beautiful church and photographs…perfect for my Sunday morning time of viewing what others have written through the week.
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Glad yo enjoyed it 🙂 Hope you have a lovely day.
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I love your histories too! Great shots!
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Thanks Cybele. Lenny was that father of modern comedy. George Carlin and may others were inspired by him.
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What a great looking building, such interesting textures. :>)
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I love the textures too.
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Excellent architecture shots, Sherry. And I definitely like your compositions. 🙂
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I’m honored.
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So imposing, and so beautiful. Thank you.
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Thank you for visiting.
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Oh wow, that is gorgeous. Thanks for sharing these 🙂
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Thanks Norm.
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Such beautiful masonry.
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