Christ Church,
better known as Old North Church, was originally built in 1723 as a colonial
member of the Church of England. In accordance with Church of England protocol,
the congregation’s first rector, Timothy Cutler (also president of Yale),
traveled to and from London for his ordination. It is the oldest standing
church in Boston. The church, a Georgian mimic of Sir Christopher Wren, is best
known as the site of 1775 Paul Revere’s night ride, when Christ Church sexton
Robert Newman hung two lanterns in the church steeple to signal that British
forces were arriving by sea. Following the revolution, the church has become a
national symbol.
The revolution also
brought a change in church leadership. Although Christ Church still remains a
member of the Anglican Communion, it became a member of the Protest Episcopal
Church of the United States following the war.
Today, the site
leads two lives – one as a secular historic site along the Freedom Trail, and
one as an active congregation and mission church. The nonprofit Old North
Foundation governs the historic site. Recently, the Old North Foundation has
updated its mission statement. Rather than the previous mission, which
read, “The Old North Foundation promotes values of freedom, liberty, and civic
engagement through the interpretation and preservation of the Old North Church,
an enduring symbol of American independence,” the new statement, updated this
past April, now lays out more specific bullet points.[1] The statement now
reads,
"The Old North
Foundation is the secular, nonprofit organization responsible for the operation
of the Old North historic site that welcomes approximately 500,000 people
each year. The Old North Foundation works daily to execute the following
mission:
·
Guide and support the utilization and preservation of the Old
North, its buildings and campuses.
·
Foster educational and interpretive programs for students and
visitors.
By tailoring its mission, the Old North
Foundation clearly separates itself from religious affiliation with the
Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, and sets itself up as a secular and
independent historic site. The mission also indicates the site's institutional
priorities, which are historic and architectural preservation, education and
interpretation, and public engagement. There is no mention of collections or
collections development beyond those of the Old North structure itself, and the
surrounding buildings and grounds. Rather, the Old North Foundation aims to
provide and maintain a dynamic, educational, and public historical site as a
space for continued learning and engagement. The Foundation serves a wide
audience through educational outreach, site-specific programming, and public
programming.
Visitors to the site
may also visit the adjacent columbarium (still actively accepting remains),
historic gardens, Eden & Gill colonial printing office, Captain Jackson’s
Historic Chocolate Shop, and the Old North gift shop. The gift shop is located
in a former chapel built for the city’s Italian community, now a secular retail
space governed by the Old North Foundation. [3]
The Episcopal
congregation of Christ Church maintains a separate identity from the Old North
Foundation. The church’s historic status, however, continues its status as a
mission church despite its growing, young congregation, and its rector is
formally the bishop of the Diocese of Massachusetts.
COLLECTIONS
The Old North
historic site is a collection of buildings and grounds. At the heart of the
site is the Old North Church itself, a historic 1723 Georgian structure. It is
the oldest standing church in Boston. The church includes a Columbarium. This
crypt space is still in use and accepting new applicants who wish to have their
cremated remains housed below the chancel of the Old North Church. The
Columbarium is operated by the Old North Church Administrator, and affiliated
with the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts.[4] That being said, the space
is open to all faiths. In addition to the historic church and crypt, the site
also features additional historic buildings and grounds. The Old North
Foundation operates the 1713 Clough House, which is one of Boston's oldest
brick residential buildings. The Clough House is home to the Edes & Gill Print
Shop and Captain Jackson's Historic Chocolate Shop.[5] Neither the chocolate shop
nor the print shop are surviving, historic sites. Instead, the shops seek to
provide visitors with historic experiences based on historic businesses, and
feature live demonstrations of historic printing and chocolate making processes
and technologies with in-person interpretation about printing and its role in
colonial America. In addition to teaching visitors about historical printing
and chocolate making techniques, interpreters share information about the
Clough House with visitors.
The Old North campus
also includes a 1918 chapel originally build for Italian immigrants. Today,
this chapel is the Old North Gift Shop. The Foundation also uses two adjoining
townhouses for administrative, educational, and interpretive spaces for public
and school programming. Finally, the buildings are arranged around three
courtyards and two formal and historical gardens.[6]
As is reflected in
its mission statement, the Old North Foundation is primarily a collection of
buildings and grounds. The Old North Church, however, does have an archival
collection. This collection is housed and preserved at the Massachusetts
Historical Society. The archival collection includes information about the
congregation, pew records, meeting minutes for the Congregation of Christ
Church's Vestry, Proprietors' meetings, and Wardens' meetings, Vital records of
Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, construction documents, and papers relating
to the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem and the Paul Revere legend.[7] Researchers wishing to
conduct research within this collection must contact the Massachusetts
Historical Society for an appointment. By housing the collections in this
space, the papers are provided with adequate storage, and scholars and
interested parties are provided with archival and reference staff trained and
skilled to aid researchers. This frees the Foundation from erecting,
maintaining, and staffing an archival storage facility of its own, and allows
it to concentrate its primary efforts on architectural building preservation
and educational interpretation and experiences.
The buildings at the
Old North historic site are not accessible to all visitors. Tour sites such as
the bell tower are located up narrow stairs, and, as a historic building,
modifications have not been made in order to accommodate visitors with varying
physical and spatial needs. The website is up front about its limitations, and
informs potential visitors of this drawback. Intellectually, however, the Old
North Foundation takes great pains in order to provide visitors with
information about the site history. Through written on-site information,
regular tours on the half hour, architectural tours by appointment, and a
detailed school tour and lesson plan, the Old North Foundation strives to make
information about the buildings and grounds freely accessible.
GOVERNANCE
Perhaps the most
striking aspect of the site is its governance structure, as the Old North
building maintains a duel role as secular historic site and religious,
Episcopal mission church. The site functioned as the parish of Christ Church in
the City of Boston, part of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts up through
1991. In that year, the Old North Foundation of Boston, Inc. was established as
a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The Foundation was established
independently of the parish of Christ Church in the City of Boston, and created
in order to operate the space as a historic site of American history, rather
than a religious place of worship. In January of 2004, Christ Church of
the City of Boston and the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts transferred all
responsibility for the preservation of the church structure, and operational
responsibilities for interpretive and educational programs to the Old North
Foundation.[8]
This transfer was lead by the Old North Foundation's board of directors and
executive director.
Despite this
dramatic shift in governance for the physical site from religious to secular,
the congregation of Christ Church in the City of Boston continues to maintain
its presence as a religious parish. The parish is classified as a mission church
of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. This means that the parish rector is
formally the bishop of the Diocese of Massachusetts, and is technically
governed by the diocese, as the physical church building is maintained by the
secular Foundation. Despite this, the vicars Rev. Stephen T. Ayers and Rev.
Eleanor A. Terry, conduct the parish’s day-to-day parish operations.
But although the
historic site and Episcopal parish are clearly governed by separate entities on
paper, the reality of the situation features significant overlap. Perhaps
understandably, both the Old North Foundation and the parish community, each
with its own tab and menu system, share the Old North web address, oldnorth.com.
Less expected are the overlaps in leadership. The vicar of Christ Church in the
City of Boston, the Rev. Stephen T. Ayers, is also the current director of the
Old North Foundation. He is featured twice on the website - once each on the
historic site staff and board page, and once on the congregational leadership page.
The Rev. Stephen T. Ayers has acted as vicar to the parish since 1997, and only
recently has he assumed the directorship of the Old North Foundation, in 2012.
Additionally, the sexton Tim Wenrich appears on both the staff page for the Old
North Foundation and the parish leadership page.[9] Traditionally, a sexton is
a parish position responsible for facility maintenance. In fact, it was the
sexton, Robert Newman, who famously hung the lanterns for Paul Revere's ride.
Since 2004, however, the physical maintenance of all buildings and grounds have
been governed by the Foundation rather than the parish.
While this overlap
in leadership may initially pose something of a red flag in organizations so carefully
split along religious and secular lines, it is in practice a practical and
successful collaboration. As both institutions share the space, a balance
between parish functions and the success of the historic site is essential. Beyond
the sharing of physical space, both organizations also share an interest in the
success of their partner organization. The congregation prides itself on its
role as a parish and a church in American history, and describes itself as a,
"national shrine and place of pilgrimage." While the parish is not
responsible for the preservation or historic operations of the physical space,
it is clearly invested in this element of the parish identity. Similarly, the
Old North Foundation features the church and its history in its educational and
interpretive programs. The Foundation regularly features a series called
"This Old Pew" on the website's blog, which profiles prominent
members of the parish community, identified by the family pew they used to
occupy. As a historic church building, the Old North Foundation naturally draws
a great deal of its historic attention from the history of the church and its
parish. Conversely, as a historic parish continuing to inhabit its historic
church building, Christ Church of the City of Boston is naturally linked to the
site's role as historic site.
Such similarities
may call to mind the silo effect within the cultural heritage community, where
the interests of museums, libraries, and archives frequently converge, yet the
means of achieving these common ends are separated by institutional method and
prevented from ever reaching the light of day. Diane Zorich, Gunter Waibel, and
Ricky Erway, in “Beyond the Silos of the LAMs,” outline that, in ideal world,
common physical spaces, clear and regular communication, and joint efforts
between organizations become regular elements of collaborative work between
cultural institutions.[10] While the parish of
Christ Church in the City of Boston and the Old North Foundation might not be a
traditional pairing of cultural heritage institutions, the nonetheless serve as
an example of successful and integrated collaborative governance. Considering
each institution’s interest in the success of the other and similarities in
motivation, it is understandable and pragmatic that the director and vicar
should be one and the same, that the web address is shared, and that the sexton
serves the facility needs of both institutions. While the secular and religious
aspects of the site may be governed and operated separately, they do share the
same hub - and operate simultaneously alongside and with one another.
SERVICES
The Old North
Foundation's mission statement outlines three primary goals: to support the use
and preservation of the historic space, to educate visitors about the site's
history, and to engage with and share the historic site with the public. In
order to fulfill this mission, the Old North Foundation offers a variety of
educational services, preservation projects, and matters of public engagement.
One of the
Foundation's primary functions is that of preservation and maintenance. The
church site has undergone several waves of redecoration, and has been restored
to reflect the church's physical appearance at several points in its history.
Right now, the Boston Preservation Alliance has allied with the Old North
Foundation in order to conduct a paint study, which chronicles the different
layers of paint within the church's interior throughout the years. Visitors to
the church may currently view shaded diagrams of the sanctuary throughout the
years, and swatches of uncovered paint may be viewed on select portions of the
otherwise white walls. Ultimately, this preservation project will result in the
church interior being restored to its original 1723 paint pattern. A public
lecture on this project will be lead by Brian Powell this coming May.[11]
The Foundation is
also committed to providing educational resources to visitors and area
students. This is primarily achieved through a robust menu of tours. Guided
tours are offered on the half hour during regular business hours, and
self-guided tour materials are available at all times. Additionally, a
behind-the-scenes tour, which takes visitors up into the bell tower in order to
learn about the process of bell ringing and view the oldest set of ringing
bells in North America, and down into the Columbarium, which is technically run
by the parish community, is available for $6. Art and architecture tours are
also available for groups, but must be per-arranged by appointment.[12]
The Foundation also
offers a variety of educational programming specifically designed for school
groups. Educational school tour themes include behind the scenes tours, art and
architecture tours, "A History Mystery: Who Hung the Lanterns?" and
"Sacred Seats: Social Implications of Colonial Church Seating." These
programs are address a wide range of grade levels, and are offered to visiting
groups on site. In addition to on-site programs, the Old North Foundation also
offers lessons plans for classroom use before visiting the site. These include
a revolutionary "Mix and Match Timeline", "Boston Then and
Now", lessons in the use of historic documents, and a lesson plan
entitled, "Tories, Timid, or True Blue," which addresses the issue of
multiple perspectives of the same historic event through primary source
materials.[13]
The Old North
Foundation also seeks to engage the public through seasonally offered speakers
series and special events.[14] The site's largest public
event is a lantern ceremony that occurs annually on April 17th, commemorating
Paul Revere's ride and Robert Newman's hanging of the lanterns. Ceremonies
typically feature speeches given by area politicians, drum and fife
performances, representatives from the local militia, color guard, and USS
Constitution, dramatic readings of Longfellow’s poem, Paul
Revere’s Ride, first-person Paul Revere reenactors, and a ceremonial
lantern hanging.
The Old North
website provides links to an impressive list of social media sites, including
Pinterest, Youtube, Google Plus, Yelp, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook,
TripAdvisor, and Instagram. Despite the breadth of intent, only one of these
accounts is active. The Google Plus and LinkedIn accounts are inactive, and the
Instagram and Twitter accounts do not exist, despite the icon links provided on
the homepage. The Youtube account may just be starting out, and features three
videos, uploaded in early April. The Yelp and TripAdvisor pages are active,
being updated primarily through visitor reviews. The Facebook page is active
and followed by just over 3,800 people. It is used most days in order to
promote post photos of the space, provide links to blog posts, and make event
announcements. This ambitious campaign is largely unsuccessful, and the Old
North Foundation would do well to undertake fewer platforms and do them well.
However, perhaps their ambition in this area stems from a desire to create a
robust and interactive narrative of the site, as outlined in “The End of
History Museums: What’s Plan B?” by Cary Carson.[15]
But while the
majority of Old North’s social media presence leaves something to be desired,
the Foundation’s blog is extremely well done. The blog features regular
articles on site preservation, "History Tidbits" about site features
such as the Thomas Grundy angels, the steeple. The most prolific blog category,
however, is "This Old Pew," which visits the church's pews by number
and offers biographical profiles on historic parishioners or architectural
points of interest within the pew.[16] This blog series is well
written and thoughtful, and provides a wonderful resource for interested
members of the public who may or may not be able to visit the physical
site.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
As a whole, the Old
North site appears to successfully balance its dual roles as historic site and
religious community. The Old North Foundation clearly separates its collection
of historic buildings and grounds from the Christ Church of the City of Boston
parish in its mission. In reality, however, this separation is less clearly
defined, as both parish and historic site are tied to one another. The
Foundation's missions to preserve, educate, and engage the public clearly
outlines the institutional priorities of the site. These are achieved through a
robust and regular agenda of educational programs, public events, and an
ongoing preservation project. Its archival collections have been housed at the
Massachusetts Historical Society, which provides adequate storage and support
staff for the archival materials, and allows the Foundation to concentrate on
its primary institutional goals of providing quality educational programming to
the public, and the maintenance and preservation of the historic buildings and
grounds.
[1]
“Old North Foundation of Boston, Inc., Mission Statement” Old North Foundation, accessed March 19, 2016, http://oldnorth.com/historic-site/foundation/.
[2]
“Old North Foundation of Boston, Inc., Mission Statement” Old North Foundation, accessed April 27, 2016, http://oldnorth.com/historic-site/foundation/.
[3]
“Plan A Visit” Old North Foundation, accessed
April 27, 2016, http://oldnorth.com/historic-site/plan-a-visit/.
[4]
“The Columbarium” Old North Foundation,
accessed April 27, 2016, http://oldnorth.com/historic-site/the-columbarium/.
[5]
“Our Campus” Old North Foundation,
accessed April 27, 2016, http://oldnorth.com/historic-site/our-campus/.
[6]
Ibid., http://oldnorth.com/historic-site/our-campus/.
[7]
“Archives” Old North Foundation,
accessed April 27, 2016, http://oldnorth.com/historic-site/the-columbarium/.
[8]
“Old North Foundation of Boston, Inc., Mission Statement” Old North Foundation, accessed April 27, 2016, http://oldnorth.com/oldnorthchurcharchives.
[9]
“Staff & Board” Old North Foundation,
accessed April 27, 2016, http://oldnorth.com/historic-site/staff-board/. And
“Clergy & Leadership” Old North
Foundation, accessed April 27, 2016, http://oldnorth.com/congregation/our-leadership/.
[10]
Diane M. Zorich, Gunter Waibel, and Ricky Erway, “Beyond the Silos of the LAMs:
Collaboration Among Libraries, Archives and Museums,”(Dublin, Ohio: OCLC
Research, 2008), 14.
[11]
“Upcoming Events,” Old North Foundation,
accessed April 27, 2016, http://oldnorth.com /upcoming-events/.
[12]
“Group Tours,” Old North Foundation,
accessed April 27, 2016, http://oldnorth.com /group-tours/.
[13]
“School Groups,” Old North Foundation,
accessed April 27, 2016, http://oldnorth.com /school-groups /.
[14]
“Upcoming Events,” Old North Foundation,
accessed April 27, 2016, http://oldnorth.com /upcoming-events/.
[15]
Cary Carson, “The End of History Museums: What’s Plan B?” The Public Historian 30, no. 4 (Fall 2008), 26.
[16]
“Old North Foundation of Boston, Inc., Blog” Old North Foundation, accessed April 27, 2016, http://oldnorth.com/historic-site/shubael-bell/.
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