Nomination for Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

NPS Form 10-900 (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form RECEIVED MAY 3 1 1988 NATIONAL REGISTER This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations of eligibility for individual properties or districts. See instructions in Guidelines for Completing National Register Forms (National Register Bulletin 16). Complete each item by marking "x" in the appropriate box or by entering the requested information. If an item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable."For functions, styles, materials, and areas of significance, enter only the categories and subcategories listed in the instructions. For additional space use continuation sheets (Form 10-900a). Type all entries. 1.

Name of Property historic name Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England other names/site number Church of the Evangelismos (Annunciation) 2. Location street & number 520 city, town Boston state Massachusetts Parker Street code 025 county Suffolk code N/A not for publication N/A vicinity 025 zip code 02120 3 Classification Ownership of Property X private public-local public-State public-Federal Category of Property X building(s) district site structure object Name of related multiple property listing: N/A Number of Resources within Property Contributing 1 Noncontributing buildings sites structures objects 1 Total Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register 4.

State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that this LX nomination request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register ofHistoricPlaces and meets the proceduraland professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion,theproperty Xmeets L does not meet the National Register criteria. See continuation shee aue alma </24 88 Signature of certifying official Date Executive Director, Massachusetts Historical Commission; State or Federal agency and bureau State Historic Preservation Officer In my opinion, the property Jmeets - does not meet the National Register criteria See continuation sheet. Signature of commenting or other official Date State or Federal agency and bureau 5.

National Park Service Certification 1, hereby, certify that this property is: entered in the National Register. See continuation sheet. determined eligible for the National Register. See continuation sheet. determined not eligible for the National Register. HilrerByen Entered in i tha legista 6-30-88 removed from the National Register. other, (explain:) Signature of the Keeper Date of Action 6. Function or Use Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England, Boston, Massachusetts Historic Functions (enter categories from instructions) Current Functions (enter categories from instructions) Religion/religious structure Religion/religious structure Religion/church school Social/meeting hall Social/meeting hall 7.

Description Architectural Classification (enter categories from instructions) Classical Revival Other: Byzantine Materials (enter categories from instructions) foundation _ walls_ roof other granite buff brick, limestone, marble copper sheathing Describe present and historic physical appearance. The Greek Orthodox Church of New England is prominently situated at the corner of. Parker and Ruggles Streets with its property bordered also by Edgar Street and Annunciation Road. It is located one block south of Huntington Avenue, in the northeast section of Mission Hill between Boston's Fenway and Roxbury neighborhoods, about 1 1/2 miles from downtown. The approximately square lot measures 23,283 square feet and is enclosed by a wrought iron fence. Cathedral is the only structure on the lot, and the surrounding land is poorly landscaped and is used only for occasional parking.

The Cathedral's main entry on the northwest side faces Parker Street and is located across from the grounds of the Wentworth Institute of Technology (1910s/1920s). The southwesterly facade of the building faces Edgar Street and the Ira Allen Schoof (1901), now part of the Wentworth Institute. The rear wall of the Cathedral borders on Annunciation Road and overlooks the Boston Housing Authority's Mission Hill Extension Development, and the fourth s1de faces onto Ruggles street and a parking lot. This creates a square lot hich in turn is reflected in the Cathedral's square structure and floor plan. Designed in 1923 by architect Hachadoor S.

Demoorjian of Worcester, Massachusetts, the building has an approximately square, centralized plan and consists of a two story sanctuary over two stories containing meeting rooms The basement level is partly raised, while the second story includes the main entrance and lower vestibule to the church on the northwest side and is marked on the exterior by a rusticated treatment of the brickwork and triple round head doors. The third and fourth story, containing the sanctuary, are highlighted on the exterior by greater elaboration and giant order columns and pilasters giving it a distinctive piano nobile effect. Since its construction in 1923-1924, the Cathedral has changed little in exterior design with first floor alterations to the front steps and a rear single story addition in the 1930s.

In its Neo-Renaissance style, the Cathedral was probably designed to complement the other distinguished institutional buildings in this section of Boston, namely the 1910-1920s Wentworth Institute on the opposite side of X] See continuation sheet Mo. 1024-0018 NAS FOWM 10-000 (8-00 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England Boston, Massachusetts Section number - Page _ Parker Street designed by the firm of Kilham and Hopkins, the 1902 Museum of Fine Arts at 465 Huntington Avenue, designed by Guy Lowell, and the 190! Ira Allen School, designed by Wilson and Webber. The Museum of Fine Arts, in particular, may have influenced Demoorjian in his Cathedral design through its example of a recessed porch with freestanding Ionic columns supporting a pediment.

A similar massing of elements appears in the Cathedral's main This 1mmediate area around the Cathedral, therefore, retains 1ts cohesion through a concentration of similar religious, educational, and municipal institutional buildings. The Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England, also called the Church of the Evangelismos (Annunciation), is designed with a centralized floor plan, and with a vertically emphasized elevation accentuated primarily by four square end towers and the vertical stretch of the giant order Ionic columns and pilasters. The structure's exterior materials consist of primarily buff brick, giving it a yellow/gold coloration, and white limestone decoration. The main facade along Parker Street is symmetrical and consists of a projecting central pavilion that is flanked on either side by square attached corner towers crowned by copper domes.

On the basement level of the north tower, a marble corner stone bearing the date 1923 is located. This basement level is relatively plain in decoration. A three-bay-wide set of steps reaches to the second story. The original three-sided flight of steps has been replaced with a frontal step configuration. The first story of the main facade consists of rusticated buff brick and is highlighted by three centrally placed roundhead bronze doors, framed in white limestone. Each door is topped with a projecting console keystone. The five inch thick bronze doors within these arches were imported from Italy in the 1970s and each features eight panels of low relief sculpture depicting the different feast days in the Greek Orthodox Church. The addition of these doors created a vestibule; originally, there were no outer doors.

Between the two belt courses which separate this story from the next, are five circular marble medallions featuring the faces of cherubs. Above these medallions is a thinner belt course providing a base for the second and third stories. This is the most elaborately articulated level on the Cathedral's exterior, much like a renaissance palace. The projecting central pavilion supports a pediment of limestone outlined with limestone dentils and is five. continued OMB NC. 10260018 10-900. 18-06 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Page - Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England Boston, Massachusetts Section number - bays wide and consists of paired Ionic columns in antis. These columns are flanked on either side by two fluted Doric pilasters between which are solid walls.

This creates a recessed porch in which are three classically framed by limestone moldings and topped with a plain entablature and a decoration minus the pediment. The third story within the recessed porch incorporates three oculi which are symmetrical with the windows and doors below and are framed by limestone moldings representing a Greek cross form. The four corners of the Cathedral each consist of a square tower supporting a small copper plated dome which reflect the larger central dome. This dome distribution is an attempt to imitate the churches and cathedrals of Byzantium which stress a central square plan into which a Greek cross form could be incorporated. The northeast and southwest facades mimic the main northwest facade along - Parker Street with less elaborate decoration.

Each side has a single door, and the portico of the main facade is replaced with a flat surface articulated by windows Ionic and Doric pilasters. The southeast elevation is plainer than the other three. The lower story consists of a 1930s extension that projects beyond the original wall, yet blends well with the original structure. Above this addition is a plain brick wall from which emerge three apses with conical roofs, emphasizing the altar space. Interior: The upper vestibule contains nine stained glass windows executed by the Charles Connick Studios of Boston in the mid-1940s. Three large windows portray the Nativity, the Annunciation, and the Ascension, while four of the six subsidiary windows portray angels, and the others feature Saint Theodore and the Madonna with Child.

The Cathedral sanctuary is two stories in height and centrally planned, emphasizing the central dome overhead. The dome contains painted images of the twelve apostles, and the apex of the dome is a round symbol of a cross The painting in the dome was made in 1927 by Evangelos Ionnides, a Greek artist and parish member. Its images of the apostles are derived from the domes in the Byzantine churches of Hosios Lukas in northern Greece and from San Marco in Venice, except that the central image of an altar in those two churches is not repeated in the Cathedral. continued OMB ADDPO

1004-0018 1 o 10000 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number - Page _3 Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England Boston, Massachusetts Ionnides also painted the murals in the arches on either side of the central in southern Greece. These two murals are currently being cleaned for the first time since they were done in 1927. Of particular interest in the Cathedral sanctuary are the thirty-one stained glass windows by Charles J. Connick, dated 1936. Their purely decorative designs were a combined effort of Connick, Kenneth Conant of Harvard, and architect Ralph Adams Cram, who served as this project's interior design consultant.

The windows are in many ways repetitive, but there are some interesting symbols included such as birds of paradise, doves, the Hetoimasia (a symbol in the Greek Orthodox Church representative of the Trinity), and the four rivers to Jerusalem. Professor Conant's ideas for these symbols came from the 1931 book Byzantine Mosaics in Greece by Diez and Demus. Within the altar space are six stained glass windows, four of which were designed by the Connick Studios in the late 1940s, and two of which are probably by Wilbur Burnham of Boston: One, portraying Christ and Saint Katherine, is signed by Burnham. Potential Archaeological Resources: There is insufficient information to provide any estimate for the archaeological potential of the Greek Orthodox Church site.

The site was apparently a filled portion of Boston's Back Bay, and significant archaeological remains would probably date to the nineteenth century. Additional historical research on this period of the site's history is recommended. 8. Statement of Significance

Statement of significance

Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England, Boston, Massachusetts Certifying official has considered the significance of this property in relation to other properties: nationally statewide Xlocally Applicable National Register Criteria XA Criteria Considerations (Exceptions) [XA Areas of Significance (enter categories from instructions) Architecture Art Ethnic Heritage: European Religion E F G Period of Significance 1923-1937 Significant Dates Cultural Affiliation N/A Significant Person N/A Architect/Builder Hachadoor Demoorjian; Ralph Adams Cram; Charles J. Connick; Wilhur H. Burnham State significance of property, andjustify criteria, criteria considerations, and areas and periods of significance noted above.

The Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England was constructed in 1923 for the Hellenic Association of Boston, an organization established in 1904, to serve as a worship and cultural center for members of the Greek Orthodox religious faith in Boston and New England. It is significant for its cultural associations with Greek immigration to the Worcester architect Hachadoor S. Demoorjian. It portrays the Greece, and therefore create a structure whose style is unique to that period, but which would soon becme an important aspect of Greek-American church design. It further is important as a structure whose interior represents a unique collaboration of three nationally and internationally prominent Boston-based artists and scholars: Ra1ph Adams Cram, Kenneth Conant, and Charles J.

Connick, who were probably intrigued by this opportunity to create Byzantine designs in an ethnic parish, and whose designs are unique in the context of their own careers. The Greek Orthodox Cathedral retains integrity of design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and location, and meets criteria A and C of the National Register on the local level. In both the United States and Greece, religion and ethnicity have been, and are one and the same and the Greek Orthodox Church has been central to Greek cultural interests. In Boston, therefore, where a large group of Greek immigrants settled between 1890 and 1910, the establishment of a church was vital to the maintenance of the culture these immigrants left behind in Greece. Prior to 1890, there were few Greek immigrants in Boston, but those who had arrived established themselves well and were generally wealthy and successful.

Evangelos Apostolides Sophocles was a professor at Harvard beginning in 1842, thus establishing the long associations -See continuation sheet 9.

The rest of the file

Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.

Major Bibliographical References Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England, Boston, Massachusetts Archival Sources: Boston Public Library, Print Department, Job Cards of Charles L. Connick Studios, 1936-1937. Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England Archives, Minutes of the Annunciation Parish Council, 1903-1948. Secondary Sources: Burgess, Thomas, Greeks in America, Boston, Sherman French and Co., 1913. Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England, Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Diamond Jubilee Commemorative Book, 1905-1980, Boston, 1980. Karagiannis, Maria, "The Gifted Greeks," Boston Sunday Globe Magazine, October 22,1986. Stained Glass Association of America, Stained Glass, Summer 1965, vol. LX, no. 2, p. 7.

Previous documentation on file (NPS): preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested previously listed in the National Register previously determined eligible by the National Register designated a National Historic Landmark recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # 10. Geographical Data Acreage of property less than one acre Quad- Boston South UTM References A 19 3 21748,0 Zone Easting 46 89040 Northing CL1 Scale- 1:25000 See continuation sheet Primary location of additional data: [* State historic preservation office Other State agency Federal agency Local government University Other Specify repository: Massachusetts Historical Commission; Boston Landmarks Commission; City of Boston, Dept.

of the Environment B D Zone Easting See continuation sheet Northing Verbal Boundary Description The nominated property conforms to the City of Boston Tax Assessor's Parcel number 2074, Ward 4, Precinct 9. See continuation sheet Boundary Justification The present legal boundaries conform to the original/historical city boundaries of the Greek Orthodox Cathedral's property. See continuation sheet 11. Form Prepared By name/title Betsy Friedberg, NR Director/MHC with Katherine L. Cottaridis organizationMassachusetts Historical Commission - date February 1988 street & number 80 Boylston Street _telephone(617) 727-8470 city or town Boston _state Massachusetts zip code _02116 OMB orov

1004-0018 2o 10000 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number _ Page - Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England Boston, Massachusetts that local Greek-Americans have had with Harvard. John Rodokanakis came to Boston in 1850 and established himself as a successful and wealthy merchant in the city. By 1895, his family's Greek-based business which had offices in London and Egypt was the first and only firm to handle Egyptian cotton for an American market. Rodokanakis handled business affairs while acting as Greek Consul Boston. His position as consul was influential since it set the precedent that made the consul an influencial person in Boston's Greek community which, to this day, 1s important.

Michael Anagnos, considered the founder of the Greek Orthodox parish in Boston, came to Boston from Greece in 1869, with Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe, a pioneer in educating the blind and founder of the Perkins Institution for the Blind in Boston. Anagnos married Howe's daughter, Julia, and succeeded Howe as director at Perkins. Anagnos and Rodokanakis were instrumental in establishing the first Greek Orthodox Church in Boston for newly arrived immigrants. By 1899, regular worship services were being held in a rented hall on the corner of Stuart and Tyler Streets. In 1905, however, the Boston parish officially formed as the Hellenic Association of Boston (showing that it was not the intent of the parish to be solely religious).

It was the fourth Greek Orthodox church founded in America following New Orleans (1867), New York (1901), and Chicago (1902), and it was the second Greek parish to build its own church, a Gothic Revival style building on Winchester Street behind the Bradford Hotel (1907), named the Church of the Evangelismos. That building no longer remains. The early years of the church reflected many of the traits common to the immigrant experience in America. Bold attempts to integrate with the Anglo-Saxon Protestant residents of Boston ran parallel with the consistent maintenance of traditional Greek culture and language with strong support for the Greek government. But again, ties to Greek traditions and Greece led to the establishment of a Greek and English school at the church on a full-time basis between 1912 and 1921.

Annual dances were held, and social organizations were formed such as American Hellenic Educational and Progressive Association (AHEPA), a branch of the national organization intended as an integrational tool for Greek immigrants into American society. continued OMB NO. 1004-0018 2o 100000 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England Boston, Massachusetts Section number - 8 Page _2 Unique to the Church of the Evangelismos was the Helicon Society, formed in 1911, by Harvard Professor Aristedes Phoutrides. It consisted of Greek students from Harvard, MIT and Tufts, aimed at promoting Greek culture among Americans.

These strong intellectual beginnings became a trademark of the Greek-American community of Boston, one that the later Archdiocese to be established in New York to for guidance and financial support. Strong political ties to Greece were often the cause of internal strife in the Boston Greek community, causing the parish to split into two separate churches in 1911. The two parishes were reunited in 1915. By 1916, the community saw continued population growth as workers from smaller towns moved into the city. This, and perhaps the desire to make a new statement of unity after four years of disunity, were the impetuses for building again. Land was purchased in 1916 at the corner of Parker and Ruggles Streets for $30,000 for the purpose of building a new church. The parish council had great notions.

proposed project was to be "a church of Byzantine and Classical architecture to be a landmark to the City of Boston." Hachadoor S. Demoorjian, an Armenian-born architect from Worcester who had designed that city's Greek Orthodox Church of St. Spiridon was hired in 1922 and paid $500 for plans for this new church. Demoorjian designed a building combining the two styles that the church wanted, and it was built between 1923 and 1924 by J.R. Worcester and Co. of 79 Milk Street in Boston at a cost of $125,000. Little is known of Demoorjian, whose life was cut short on November 25, 1926, in a fatal automobile accident in Barre, Massachusetts. The only account of his death in the Worcester Telegram appeared on November 26. It indicated that Demoorjian was well known in Worcester.

Probably the reason he was chosen as architect for the Cathedral in Boston was because he also designed the Greek Church of Saint Spiridon in Worcester (now demolished). Demoorjian, according to this article, designed the Tatnuck Ore Station, some private homes, and various lunch rooms in Worcester and Boston. Research has uncovered little on his training and private life. No birth or death record appears for him in Worcester where he resided. The Worcester Telegram wrote, "Although an Armenian, he was as well known in the Greek circles in Worcester and Boston as among Armenians." Demoorjian is listed in the Worcester Directories beginning in 1909 as a "draughtsman" with his own office at the State Mutual Building. Beginning in 1915, he is listed as "architect" until his death in 1925.

continued ONB ADDrON 1024-0018 100000 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number - Page Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England . Boston, Massachusetts The net result of Demoorjian's design is a handsome Classical Revival/Neo-Renaissance Revival structure with five domes on it common to Greek Byzantine churches. Those involved with the design of this Cathedral turned to the plans and decorative details of such well- known Byzantine examples as the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, the monasteries of Daphni and Hosios Lukas in Greece for inspiration. Still, Demoorjian's perspective drawing of the Cathedral is in many ways out of proportion in its rectangular stretch and large central dome when compared with the centrally focused square plan actually built.

FTEE Nevertheless, the structure that was actually built conforms to the "Byzantine" and "Classical" structure that the parish wanted in 1916 -- classical in its plan, elevation, and articulation, and Byzantine in its use of five prominent domes, a central large dome and four smaller subsidiary ones, representing the concept of a cross within a These slightly Byzantine qualities are unusual to Boston in 1922 and to most of the U.S.. According to Modern Greek historian at Amherst College, Dr. John Petropulos, the Byzantine Revival in Greece did not begin until the 1920s so that what was done in America was truly based on copying major examples as much as possible. Actual understanding of Byzantine iconography and structure was an emerging field of study in the 1920s and 1930s.

Demoorjian no doubt realized the need for the church to integrate with other nearby structures, and one can see in the recessed porch of the main facade's pedimented pavilion, a striking similarity to the end pavilions of the Museum of Fine Arts located at a diagonal from the Cathedral. The Cathedral is a rather late example of the Classical Revival influence in Boston, following examples set by the Boston Public Library (McKim, Mead, and White), and the Museum of Fine Arts (Guy Lowell). The revival of classicism at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century was an attempt to give buildings a clear sense of order and unity through balance and symmetry. Leo Roth writes that this re-emergence of classicism was a means of making urban buildings more harmonious with one another. In this section of Mission Hill and the Back Bay Fens, this is particularly true.

Cathedral complemented the already existing Museum of Fine Arts, the Wentworth Institute, and more distantly, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. continued 10240018 : Porm 10-006 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number - Page - Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England _Boston, Massachusetts There is no indication from the minutes of the parish council that Demoorjian had more involvement with the Cathedral than providing its design at the cost of $500.

The new building was opened for worship on September 13, 1924, but prior to that, on June 28, 1923, Joakim Alexopulos was appointed the first Bishop of Boston, andthe new In this capacity, it served as che mother cseaci of ee Enganeaand nelpedoesaaoesaa ap, new parishes in New England, an area that had become a center for Greek immigration. The Cathedral building was consecrated in 1934, but not before a Greek neighborhood could remove itself from the Winchester Street location (Bay Village neighborhood) around the old church, and congregate around the Parker and Ruggles Streets area. The 1930s proved to be years of increasing assimilation into American culture and an era of fewer political conflicts within the Greek community in Boston.

New England took initial steps in June of 1930 to encourage the sesprte is gera ecae il aeien te cresericoan centralization of the Archdiocese in New York as a unifying factor for all Greek-American parishes: "We, your Bostonian parishioners request respectfully his Eminence Archbishop Damasinos of New York to point clergy and national committees to form one constitution for all Greek Churches in America." This was a relatively advanced move for a diocesan council to make. The following year, however, a new Archbishop, Athenagoras, was sent to New York. His ideas were much the Bostonians, and he was an influential factor in the establishment of a sound central authority in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America. Athenagoras seemed to like the Boston Diocese.

He frequently visited the Cathedral, and it was to New England that he came to establish the Holy Cross Theological School for the training of native Greek-American clergy in Pomfret, Connecticut. This was the predecessor to the present school of the same name in Brookline, Massachusetts. The Boston diocese gave a significant amount of time and money to the Pomfret establishment as it does now to the school in Brookline. The new Archbishop Athenagoras saw wealth, support, and intellectual leadership in the Boston community. This view of the Cathedral community may have been the reason why the Boston diocese became a stepping stone to higher ecclesiastical leadership in the Greek Orthodox Church for many deans and bishops. Athenagoras went on to assume the highest rank of Patriarch in Constantinople.

Athenagoras Cavadas, Dean of the Cathedral in 1930 became Chancellor of the Archdiocese in New York, and later, Bishop of Thyateira, and James Coucouzes, Dean of the Cathedral from 1946-1955 replaced Athenagoras as Archbishop of North and South America in 1959 where he remains today. continued OMB ApDrONe MO. 1024-0018 2 0 100001 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet 8 5 Section number Page Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England Boston, Massachusetts The 1920s and 1930s saw greater development of the interior design of the Cathedral. Nationally known ecclesiastical architect Ralph Adams Cram was hired in 1926 as consultant to the interior decoration. The story of Cram's involvement in the Cathedral's artistic development is sketchy and unclear.

This project is seldom acknowledged in the repertoire of Cram's architectural or consultation projects. When Charles Connick designed the windows in 1936, the project architect was listed on the job card as Cram and Ferguson. A Bostonian, Cram was involved in many projects in the city, but he was also well known throughout the United States as the foremost Gothic Revival architect of the 20th century. A prolific writer and respected scholar, Cram published twenty-four books and was a professor of philosophy of architecture and head of the School of Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Cram, however, was not only a Gothicist, nor only an ecclesiastical architect. His building styles included Byzantine, Lombard, Georgian, and even Art Deco.

Cram's many projects included: All Saint's Church, Ashmont (Dorchester, Boston) (1892-1913) Richmond Courd Apartments, Brookline (1898-1900) U.S. Military Academy, West Point, NY (1906-1914) Rice Institute, Houston, Texas (1909-1941) Philips Exeter Academy, Exeter, NY (1914-1932) Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, New York City, NY (1915-1941) U.S. War Memorial Chapels (4), France (1927) Federal Building, Boston (1931) Conventional Church of St. Mary and John, Cambridge, MA. continued 102-0018 5o 100000 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number - Page - Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England Boston, Massachusetts Cram's influence, therefore, was widespread. His office was known to involve itself with a variety of designers, consultants, and craftsmen.

In the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England, Cram was responsible for the wooden pews. Some remain as spare seating in the downstairs Sunday school area, replaced during renovation in the 1960s. According to the minutes of the parish council, Cram also took charge of the first three murals to be painted for the church. Evangelos Ionnides, a church member and artist, to paint the interior of the twelve apostles. The center contains a red Greek cross encircled by the words. "By This, Conquer." These are symbols representative of the apparition that appeared to the Emperor Constantine prior to his victory over Maximus in 312 A.D. The dome's decoration is derived from that at the monastery of Hosios Lukas in Northern Greece, a significant Bysantine structure.

In the center of the dome in Greece, it is the "Hetoimasia," an image of an altar from which emanate flames which connect with each apostle's head, all signifying Pentecost. The Cathedral's dome probably never contained the same central image, although the precedents at Hosios Lukas and San Marco were an influence on what Ionnides painted. Ionnides also painted the murals on either side of the altar. These icons portray the Crucifiction and Christ's descent to Hell. They appear in arches on either side of the altar screen and below them seven images of saints. These are close copies of the same two images at the Byzantine monastery of Daphni in Greece, which also conform to arched walls. Despite his contributions to the Cathedral, Ionnides remains an obscure figure.

Cram's other connection within the church was Kenneth Conant, the internationally known medieval architectural historian and archaeologist at Harvard. Cram had founded the Medieval Academy of America in 1925 in Cambridge which had attracted many locally interested medievalists. Among them was Kenneth Conant whose connections with Cram inspired Conant's archeological work at the Abbey of Cluny in France. At some point prior to 1935, Conant had converted to the Greek Orthodox faith and begun to involve himself with the Cathedral's artistic affairs. .Whether he was part of the church earlier and influenced Cram's involvement with the interior design is unknown. continued Ma. 10210018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number.

Page Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England Boston, Massachusetts In 1935, Conant was appointed by the parish council to commission stained glass windows for the Cathedral. He worked with the Dean of the Cathedral, Father Efthimiou, to develop proper symbols and suggestions for the windows, and then approached Charles J. Connick, another prominent Boston-based artist and fellow member of the Medieval Academy of America. Connick had worked on many projects with including the church of Saint John the Divine in New York. Ultimately, through visitations and discussions between Connick, conant, and Cram, thirty-one windows were made for the sanctuary of the Cathedral. The following is an example of the kind of exchange that took place: Connick studio notes, 9/22/36: "Professor Conant and Mr. Cram came to the studio to see the sample.

Cram was very much pleased with the sample for the Greek church. He thought it was painted just right, but he did suggest, and it was planned, to make the four yellow crosses in the other scheme, that is, the windows in the corners, very light gold -- he said that palest yellow.we had. Mr. Connick agreed to keep them light gold. Conant still felt the black too much, although Mr. Cram did not. Conant would like to have the blocks in the checkerboards pattern kept small. He [Conant] still feels that he can look up some Bysantine designs that would harmonize with the style better. The windows, all of which remain, consist essentially of three designs which are repeated in various ways throughout the main hall of the church. Conant and Connick thought that the use of human figures in these windows would detract from the murals and other decoration in the Cathedral.

They therefore decided that the decorative windows would be more appropriate. Conant and Father Efthimiou had decided that the following images should somehow be incorporated in the new windows. These include 1) a pair of doves, 2) a pair of peacocks, 3) the four rivers to Jerusalem and, 4) the hetoimasia, or celestial Jerusalem. All of these were intended to be symbols of Paradise. The peacock in a religious context represents imortality because the flesh of the peacock, in legend, does not decay. Doves represent peace. The four rivers to Jerusalem was derived from a mosaic in the Greek monastery of Daphni portraying the Annunciation to Anne.

Many of these images appeared in the 1931 book, Byzantine Mosaics in Greece, by Demus and Diez, to which Conant and Connick made reference when continued NPS Form 10-000e (8-00) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number _ 8 Page 8 Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England Boston, Massachusetts OMB Approvel No. 1024-0018 symbolic of martyrdom. Throughout the church, Connick's windows consist of the colors blue, green, yellow, red, black, and white. The patterns are, for the most part, stenciled, and in some ways, their vertical emphasis and occasional diagonals are reminiscent of an Art Deco influence.

The geometric, symmetrical representation in these images, in their repetitive use of the same designs, creates a set of windows with a vibrancy in color, but a consistency in design which does not make for many unusual designs. In the context of Connick's career, these windows are an anomaly. Known for his figurative representations, the windows show unique designs of decorative patterns resulting from a collaboration of three influential artists whose ideas were ultimately coordinated by Charles Connick. They are not, however, Connick's best work, and individually, they would not have the significance which they do as a whole program in the context of this Cathedral. Why, in 1936, three of Boston's most important designers and scholars converged in this ethnic parish is of major significance.

No doubt Conant's religious connections were important, and the church's own connections at Harvard were great motivators in this very strong patron-artist relationsnip. However, the attention given to these designs, and the reviews of them by Conant, Cram, and Conick are likely representative of these medievalists' concern for Byzantine architecture and design. This appears to have been the only Greek Orthodox parish in which Cram was involved. All three of these men, with their interest in Medieval Studies, appear to have used this parish as an experiment in Byzantine design, and what they turned out was not truly Byzantine, but was unique to that place and moment.

In 1943 and 1944, the Connick Studios were commissioned to design more windows, three large ones representing the Resurrection, Annunciation, and Nativity in the narthex, four for the stair landings, and three sacristy windows. Compared with the earlier windows, the original stained glass windows, these windows are inferior in design and show little attentiona to details. For example, the Nativity window shows the event taking place in a manger when in the Orthodox faith, Christ was born in a cave. Nevertheless, these windows are significant in that they represent a second generation of window design in the Connick Studios. continued OMB Approvel No.

1024-0018 NPS Form 10-900- (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number Page 9 Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England Boston, Massachusetts Improvements to the interior continued in the 1940s and 1950s without the aid of Conant and Cram. A new marble altar screen (iconostasion) was installed in 1944, and the older one was sent to a newly established parish in Hawaii. Wilbur Herbert Burnham (1887-1974), another prominent Boston artist, designed two windows for the sacristy in 1954. One shows the crucifiction with Saint Constantine and his mother, Saint Helen, on either side. Again, Burnham's knowledge of the Orthodox tradition is limited. Saint Constantine is portrayed in profile, a position reserved for sinners.

These windows also show the second generation of Burnham's studio trying to imitate its founder's work. vintoasa150 Two large paintings on canvas, one in the downstairs chapel and one in a Sunday school room, are both by Wilbur Herbert Burnham. Only one is signed with his name and the date, 1954, but both portray Christ in a standing position surrounded by children in one, and by shepherds and invalids in the second. In addition to the new Burnham windows, the 1950s improvement program included a new baptismal font and Bishop's throne, both of marble. As with many urban parishes, the suburbanization of the 1950s affected the Cathedral and its parishioners. Members left Boston and established suburban parishes such as those at Waban (1957), Quincy (1958), Brookline (1962), and Dedham (1964).

Membership decreased substantially and despite new immigrants in the 1960s after a military coup in Greece, the Cathedral was still not on par with its past membership statistics. Much of the remaining membership in the 1960s wanted to abandon the present structure and build a new one in a better location. However, in an attempt to regroup and improve the Cathedral, a major renovation program was undertaken, beginning in 1965, at the cost of $350,000. The firm of Drummy and Rosane was hired to make some of the slight structural changes to the upper and lower vestibules, and the first mosaics to be done in the church were undertaken by Tonelli studios in 1971, and installed in the altar screen (or iconostasion), bishop's throne, and the upper and lower vestibules.

All administrative services of the diocese and the parish and large community functions were moved in 1973 to the former Parker Estate in Brookline, a ten acre site purchased for that purpose. continued NPS Form 10-000e (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page OMB Approvel No. 1024-0018 10 Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England Boston, Massachusetts The 1980s have seen a renewal of the 1950s desire to relocate due to lack of adequate parking facilities. However, in the past two years, the parish has agaln decided to renovate the Cathedral in light of the fact that significant growth in membership has occured over the past four years.

MUSEUM CHUROH or 15T DAMASCUY STREET ROAD 516,640 MUSEUM OFIFIE ARTS, BOSTON AVE N 39,151 RUGGLES WVENUE MUNTINGTON ."* 6395 14,912 STREET PARKET 17,172 13,757 1100 3500 2600 COÀO 2145 29e. Pr2 STREET ORTHOD AREA /WENTWORTI INSTiTUTED 18.15 OF CATMEDRAL 06G (ALLEN SCHOOL LELT gSTON -MIGH TRADE 13,300 *5 0 Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England 520 Parker St. Boston, Massachusetts BRA Map #2IN-9E, scale 1"= 100' SCMOOL 490,070 ROAD TUEALON MILD ExTENTION DEVELORRAN ROAD ANNUNCIATION 8800095 + WASO Form - 177 ('"R" June 1984) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England Suffolk County MASSACHUSETTS resubmission nomination by person or local government owner objection appeal Substantive Review: -sample Reviewer's comments: request MAY 3 I 1998 Working No. Fed.

Reg. Date: , Date Due: _ 6/30/88 17/89 - 2/15/88 Intered in tlAction: LACCEPT. 6-30-88 Jational Begisten __ RETURN _ REJECT- Federal Agency: -appeal NR decision Recom./Criteria Reviewer Discipline Date see continuation sheet Nomination returned for: _ technical corrections cited below _ substantive reasons discussed below 1. Name 2. Location 3. Classification Category Ownership Public Acquisition 4. Owner of Property 5. Location of Legal Description 6. Representation in Existing Surveys Has this property been determined eligible? yes no 7. Description Condition -excellent good fair deteriorated ruins unexposed Check one J unaltered J altered Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance - summary paragraph J completeness clarity alterations/integrity dates boundary selection Status Accessible Present Use Check one -original site moved date 8.

Significance Period Areas of Significance-Check and justify below Specific dates Builder/Architect Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) summary paragraph completeness clarity applicable criteria justification of areas checked relating significance to the resource context relationship of integrity to significance justification of exception other 9. Major Bibliographical References 10. Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property Quadrangle name UTM References Verbal boundary description and justification 11. Form Prepared By 12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: national state local State Historic Preservation Officer signature date title 13.

Other Maps Photographs Other Questions concerning this nomination may.be directed to - Signed Date - Phone: - GPO 918-450 Comments for any item may be continued on an attached sheet Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England 520 Parker Street Boston, Massachusetts Kathy Kottaridis, November, 1986 Negative on file at Boston Landmarks Commission Photograph number lof 3 Oblique view of, northeast and northwest dlevations (camera facing south) EN TOYT Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England 520 Parker Street Boston, Massachusetts Kathy Kottaridis, November, 1986 Negative on file at Boston Landmarks Commission Photograph number Zof 3 View of interior, central dome decoration (camera facing up) VADRIAM GREEK ORTHODOX CATHEDRAL OF NEW ENGLAND 520 PARKER ST.

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS KATHY KOTTARIDIS, NOVEMBER 1986 NEGATIVE ON FILE AT BOSTON LANDMARKS COMMISSION PHOTOGRAPH NUMBER 3 DF 3 Interior detail: Stained glass window on northeast wall of sanctuary (1936, by Charles J. Connick) May 27, 1988 Carol Shull National Register of Historic Places Department of the Interior National Park Service P.O. Box 37127 Washington, DC 20013-7127 Dear Ms.

Shull: Enclosed you will find the nomination forms for the following properties: There are three properties in Boston: Eliot Hall; 7A Eliot Street First Church of Jamaica Plain; 6 Eliot Street Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England; 520 Parker Street Haverhill, Intervale Factory; 402 River Street Lincoln, Woods End Road Historic District; 68 Baker Bridge Road, 1, 5, 9, and 10 Woods End Road Lowel1, Merrimack-Middle Streets Historic District (Boundary Increase); Merrimack, Middle, Prescott, Central, and Market Streets; A. Hocum Hosford Building HPCA# 10283MA Vestry Building HPCA# 10207MA D. L. Page Building HPCA# 1081MA Quincy, Massachusetts Fields School; Rawson Road and Beach Street; HPCA# 0570-84-MA Massachusetts Historical Commission, Valerie A.

Talmage, Executive Director, State Historic Preservation Officer 80 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02116 (617) 727-8470 Office of the Secretary of State, Michael J. Connolly, Secretary They have been voted eligible by the State Review Board and have been signed by the State Historic Preservation Officer. Owners were notified of pending State Review Board consideration 30-75 days before the meeting and were afforded the opportunity to comment. No comments have been received to date. Sincerely, Betay Friedherg Betsy Friedberg National Register Director Massachusetts Historical Commission BF/es Enclosure MAY 3 | 1988