Trinity Cathedral retraces past 100 years
Olney Gallery Director Manny Burruel says they gathered up as many photos as they could to arrive at the 36 images featured in the Trinity Cathedral Centennial Show — 100 Years of Photographs.
In addition to going through the photographs the Episcopal cathedral at 100 W. Roosevelt St. in downtown Phoenix had in its collection, Burruel and Centennial Chair Gail Browne went through the Arizona State University archives.
There are also photographs on loan from members of the congregation.
The goal was to have something from each decade since the 1920 opening of the cathedral. The only decade missing is the ‘30s.
Highlights range from a 1920 photo taken during the construction with Model Ts lining the street to Duke Ellington with Dean Usher after a 1966 concert and the devastating impact of the fire that charred the organ in 2002.
Exhibition includes photos from founding of the original church
There are also photos from before the opening, including a 1915 photograph of Bishop Atwood speaking at the setting of the cornerstone and an 1889 shot of the original Trinity Church.
One of Burruel’s personal favorites is a photo of the God Unlimited Singers.
“They’re from the ‘70s and that’s kind of my era when I was in my teens,” he explains with a laugh. “So I recognized the fashions. It was just like, ‘Oh, I know those people.’ Even though they’re strangers, I remember people like that.”
It shouldn’t be surprising to find photos of musicians making their way into the photo gallery.
“One of the things that attracts people to the cathedral, I think, is the wonderful music with our choir on Sundays,” Burruel says. “And the music ministry at the church hosts concerts.”
The church used to be considered ‘far out in the desert’
As the photo of the bishop at the setting of the cornerstone suggests, the 1920 opening of Trinity Cathedral was a huge event.
The original Trinity Church, which held its first service in 1889, was a Gothic Revival brick building at Second and Washington Streets where City Hall is now. The new location on Roosevelt street was seen as very risky at the time, the current dean of Trinity Cathedral, the Rev. Troy Mendez, says, because it meant the church was “moving to the furthest edge of town.”
As Burruel has come to understand the situation, “It was seen as so far out in the desert. So that was a little controversial. ‘Why are we building it way out there?’ And of course, now, it’s smack dab in the center of Phoenix.”
Mendez says building on Roosevelt Street speaks to the “very forward-looking perspective of the congregation when it came to the development of Phoenix.”
And they wanted to be part of it. “They had an idea that the city was really going to grow exponentially over the next few years,” Mendez says. “And they knew building it out on the margin of the city, they were going to be able to be part of that explosive and expansive growth.”
The church has had prominent residents in its congregation
Another way the church contributed to that expansive growth was through the members of the congregation.
The founder of the Heard Museum was on the board at Trinity. So was Margaret T. Hance, the first female mayor of Phoenix.
“The cathedral was very much interconnected with the workings of city government, the founding of various industries and schools, so many of the things that we appreciate about the city now,” Mendez says.
To reflect how much the times have changed since the cathedral opened, a vintage Model T will be on display in the courtyard at the opening reception on First Friday, Dec. 3.
The car’s owner, Harry Tolliver, will
be on hand in 1920s fashions to demonstrate the proper usage of the crank on the front of the car to get it running.
One goal Mendez has for the exhibit is to underscore the core beliefs that carry over from the early days of Trinity Cathedral to the congregation as it stands today.
“Even though our view of the world now is far more expansive than theirs,” Mendez says, “I truly believe that we inherit a desire for a better world from the people who founded our community.”