May 3, 2022
The first Modernist Style Church in St. Louis was St. Mark's.
Instead of the vivid images of cherubs, saints, and sunbursts
usually found in religious stained glass, these windows would carry
abstract visions of the current era’s deepest challenges, including
war, poverty and union issues. Just press play to hear the whole
story. ———
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Podcast Transcript: I’m
Andrew Wanko, Public Historian of the Missouri Historical Society,
and here’s history, on 88.1 KDHX. ———
St. Louis’s churches have no shortage of dazzling stained glass
windows. But in the small south city church of St. Mark’s
Episcopal, you’ll find a set of radical and controversial windows
that didn’t use visual grandeur to leave their impression. ———
Built in 1939 in St. Louis Hills, St. Mark’s Episcopal was the
first Modernist style church in St. Louis. The budget-strapped
church had just eight thin window openings. Instead of the vivid
cherubs, saints, and sunbursts usually found in religious stained
glass, these windows would carry abstract visions of the current
era’s deepest challenges. To amplify their serious social messages,
glass artist Robert Harmon used only washed out shades of blue,
purple, and yellow glass. ———
One window spoke to the human and economic toll of modern warfare,
showing soldiers marching beneath trees that sprouted bullets,
bones, and money. Another depicted the importance of labor unity,
with two workers pounding away on a gigantic nail twice their size.
Yet another featured a striking union worker yanking a rope held by
his feather-capped employer, and a shirtless black laborer battling
a wealthy white man. These challenging modern images were
counterbalanced by depictions of Biblical stories, including Jesus
feeding 5,000 people with just five loaves of bread and two fish.
———
At their 1939 unveiling, the windows of St. Marks were so controversial that they incited suspicion and outrage from neighbors. A complaint that the church could be secretly spreading Communism was even lodged with the FBI, and officers from the St. Louis Police Department’s anti-Communist “Red Squad” made threatening house visits to congregation members. ———
At a time when the weary faithful struggled to make sense of World War I, the Great Depression, and the staggering inequality in the United States, the stained glass windows of St. Marks Episcopal reflected their fears, hopes, and frustrations. Over 70 years later they still feel provocative, and continue to remind St. Louisans that the struggle for peace, justice, and equality is an effort that transcends generations. ———
Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Andrew Wanko and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ———