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The Universalist and Unitarian congregations of Iowa City
that were precursors to UUSIC made their homes in a variety of
structures. Iowa City’s earliest Universalists first gathered in a log
cabin, and later met for a time in the headquarters of the Iowa
territorial government. In 1841, they moved to their own small building,
and in ’43 built what the Iowa City Daily Press described as a
“pretentious structure for its day” on Dubuque Street.
When that burned down in 1868, the congregation made its home
in a former bowling alley while a well-appointed new house of worship
went up on the site of present day Phillips Hall. But finances were
tight and made tighter by another fire; the congregation had dwindled;
and between 1878 and 1906, the building changed hands three times. In
the end, the university purchased the gothic structure.
 The next year, Rev. Robert Loring began ministering to the
congregation. In 1907-08, he and Rev. Eleanor Gordon, who had
served our Iowa City congregation from 1886 to 1900 before going to
a Des Moines, began collaborating on the construction of a new Unitarian
building, here at the corner of Gilbert Street and Iowa Avenue.
Loring’s congregation wanted a simple building, and provided
a budget of about $5,000 for its construction. All agreed that although
the church should be built economically, it “should not be in any way
mean or small or stingy,” and should provide:
…down to earth workability, the democratic provision of
comfort, and the spirit of magnanimity fostered by self-sufficiency,
[for] a …church's responsibility is not confined to its immediate family
but includes the whole of society.
The book
Prophetic Sisterhood describes how Gordon and Loring worked closely
together to create a place of worship with a “cozy and homelike
ambiance.” In this,
they were very successful -- so much so that the local paper
reported the new structure was known in the community as "the little
church that looks like a house."
Loring had previously overseen the construction of a
cottage church in Derby, Connecticut. That building still stands,
although today it is a veterans’ memorial center. The design of that building, and subsequently of ours at 10
South Gilbert Street, was adapted from one in a booklet called Plans
for Churches, published in 1902 by the American Unitarian
Association,
...in the hope that our societies will be guided by
its recommenda-tions and be persuaded of the possibility of building convenient and beautiful
churches,
without
undue expense, without discord,
and without debt.
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The booklet presents a number of plans, including three
original building designs commissioned from well-known Boston architect
Edwin J. Lewis Jr. These three plans were scalable to congregation size,
and drew strongly upon medieval English parish architecture. From these
three original plans, Loring’s congregation settled on the second, more
spacious plan.
This new building would have neither steeple nor formal
arched entry, and would include such “homely touches” as “dark open
beams against white walls… and leaded window panes with amber glass.”
Loring shared Gordon’s belief that a church, as a place where
women as well as men worked, required a “good sized kitchen” and space
for socializing, guild rooms, and parlors, “all arranged in the interest
of family togetherness and comfort.” It was at Loring’s insistence that
fireplaces were added at the last moment “to give a touch of poetry."
UU Historian Rev. Stefan Jonasson writes,
…the Iowa City congregation opted for a larger footprint;
it's also clear that it employed more luxurious building than what
was called for in the basic plan. Full basements, which were imagined to
hold "supper-rooms" and kitchens, were considered optional; the Iowa
City basement layout is typical of the churches that were built. The
false buttresses are rare and the small roof windows are, as far as I
know, unique to the Iowa City church.
Jonasson says that no congregations seem to have used the AUA
plans after World War I. Today, very few Unitarian structures based on
the AUA’s Plans for Churches remain in the Midwest, and even fewer house
their original congregations. Our home at 10 South Gilbert is,
historically speaking, a real gem.
Rev. Khoren
Arisian, minister here from 1951-1957,
noted during the celebration of our 150th
birthday as a congregation,
People sanctify places by their idealism,
striving, and aspirations… It is well to recall how
human feeling, intention, and imagination have hallowed this temple of
the free mind. |
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The Life and Times of Iowa City
in the First Decade of the 20th Century
Loren Horton, Senior
Historian Emeritus,
State Historical Society of Iowa
October marks the 100th birthday of our UUSIC home here at 10
South Gilbert! What better way to celebrate this milestone event than
with a special presentation by Loren Horton,
senior historian
emeritus of the
State Historical Society of Iowa.
Share in the festivities on
Saturday, October 25, at 7:00 PM in the sanctuary,
when Loren will regale us with stories from
“The Life and Times of Iowa City in the First Decade of the 20th
Century.”
Following Loren’s presentation, we will gather downstairs for the
dessert reception which concludes this year’s stewardship campaign,
“Their Footsteps, Our Journey.” Child care will be provided, so that
families of all ages can attend. |
Unitarian
Universalist
Society
of
Iowa City
