Wordless Wednesday: Happy Halloween!

Me and my siblings, Halloween 1966, from a really blurry slide.

© Amanda Pape - 2018 - click here to e-mail me.

Sentimental Church (Record) Sunday: St. Michael Catholic Church, Old Town, Chicago - Exterior

While visiting my son in Chicago in August 2017, I was able to easily walk from the daylight basement apartment where we were staying in Lincoln Park to another Catholic church, St. Michael in Old Town.  I made a couple trips there over the week we were visiting.

St. Michael the Archangel parish was started in 1852 for German immigrants.  In 1866, work began on a brick church, designed by noted architect August Walbaum, using red sandstone bricks made locally, and limestone trim.  This church was completed and dedicated in September 1869.

The Chicago Fire of October 1871 nearly destroyed the building - only the walls were left standing.  The church was rebuilt and rededicated in October 1873.

The 290-foot-tall spire was dedicated in May 1888.

A large four-faced clock, installed in 1894 by Mathias Schwalbach of Milwaukee, is part of the tower.

The spire is capped by a gilded cross more than 24 feet tall and 9 feet wide. 

 A nine-foot statue of St. Michael the Archangel, carved by Gault and Company, was raised to the niche above the main entrance in 1913.

The Romanesque front facade was also added in 1913, by Chicago architect Hermann J. Gaul.

More details in my post next week!  I will also explain the family connection in a future post.

© Amanda Pape - 2018 - click here to e-mail me.

Those Places Thursday: Lincoln Park, Chicago, From a 1927-1928 Home Movie

Here is a short clip (1:27 minutes) from the 1927-1928 home movie I found in my late father's belongings earlier this year.  In it, Pape and Massmann family members are visiting Chicago's Lincoln Park.  I posted still pictures of some of the people in this clip yesterday.

 


The clip starts with a stop at the Standing Lincoln statue near the south end of the park.  I think the man walking in front of it is either my great-uncle Alfred John Massmann (1901-1964), or my grandfather, Paul Robert Pape (1896-1970).

Here's a picture of Standing Lincoln from about 1901 (from the Detroit Publishing Company photograph collection, Library of Congress):

In the still image from the movie below, the building in the background on the right is the Lincoln Park Conservatory.  I think the road in the image might be today's N. Stockton Drive.  Note the horses crossing the road.

Here's a circa 1905 image of the conservatory (and gardens) taken from close to the same point - a little further north and east than the viewpoint above - this is spring or summer (from the Detroit Publishing Company photograph collection, Library of Congress):

This still image from the movie is of a polar bear in the nearby Lincoln Park Zoo:

This Polar bear image from 1900 is from the Illinois Urban Landscapes Project of The Field Museum Library in Chicago (via Flickr Commons):




This is how the Bear Pit at the Lincoln Park Zoo looked about 1922 (another postcard from 1931 indicates they still looked the same then):

(Postcard courtesy John Chuckman's Chicago Nostalgia and Memorabilia site.)

This still image from the movie is probably of an American Black Bear:

This American Black Bear image from 1900 is from the Illinois Urban Landscapes Project of The Field Museum Library in Chicago (via Flickr Commons):

Here's another still image from the movie of a dark-colored bear.  At this point in the movie, it was snowing lightly.

Further on, there are birds in cages in the movie:

I think the large bird pictured above is a White Pelican, like the one from 1900 pictured below, from the Illinois Urban Landscapes Project of The Field Museum Library in Chicago (via Flickr Commons):

Anther bird that appears in the movie might be a Stork, like the one from 1900 pictured below, from the Illinois Urban Landscapes Project of The Field Museum Library in Chicago (via Flickr Commons):




Here's a still image from the movie with what might be a stork in an enclosure that clearly is inside a building:

That building might be what was called the "Bird Cage" in this postcard from the 1907-1914 (divided back, printed in Germany) era:

(Postcard courtesy John Chuckman's Chicago Nostalgia and Memorabilia site.)

© Amanda Pape - 2018 - click here to e-mail me.

(Almost-) Wordless Wednesday: Stills from a 1927-1928 Home Movie

Here are more still images of family from the digitized 1927-1928 home movie I have written about previously.  These images are from a clip of a visit to Lincoln Park in Chicago, which I will post and write more about tomorrow.

Below is my grandmother, Nana, Elizabeth Florence Massmann Pape (1902-2000).

She is holding my uncle Paul Robert "Bob" Pape Jr. (1926-2008), pictured below.  Uncle Bob was born in January 1926, so he would have been about two years old when this movie was made.

The next two pictures have Uncle Bob and Nana interacting with each other.  There appear to be ferns or palms in the background - I think they are in the Lincoln Park Conservatory.

The next two photos have my great aunt, Agatha Patricia Burke Massmann (1903-1979) is holding her oldest child Alfred John "Jack" Massmann (1926-1999), born just six months after his first cousin, my Uncle Bob.

© Amanda Pape - 2018 - click here to e-mail me.

Sentimental Church (Record) Sunday: St. Vincent de Paul, Chicago, Interior: Miscellaneous

Seven weeks ago I wrote about the exterior of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Chicago, where my Massmann great-grandparents, Frederick Henry Massmann, 1875-1948, and Elizabeth Regina Dienes Massmann, 1876-1946, were married on June 5, 1900.  Six weeks ago I started writing about the interior, specifically, the stained glass windows; continuing the next two weeks.  Three weeks ago I wrote about the main altar, and two weeks ago I wrote about the side altars and other statues in the church.  Last week I wrote about the decorative painting in the church.

This week I'm writing about some miscellaneous items in the interior: 

The ambry (below), in an alcove on the east wall near the sanctuary, is a container used for storage of the holy oils used in sacraments: Oil of catechumens, Oil of the Sick, and Sacred Chrism. This ambry was constructed using the base and lid of the former baptismal font.

The baptismal font is now in the center of the church, and was constructed using portions of the former communion rail.

Above and below - more detail of the baptismal font

The small altar (below) in front of the main altar has legs also made from portions of the former communion rail. The altar table surface is removable, so the altar can be removed when space in the sanctuary is needed for secular functions.

The baptismal font that is now the ambry used to be in this small room off the narthex - I can tell because the central stained glass window depicts Saint John the Baptist baptizing Jesus Christ:

Finally, the floor of the narthex has this mosaic, also repeated in the exterior signs.

© Amanda Pape - 2018 - click here to e-mail me.

Friday's Faces From the Past: Happy 90th Birthday to My Mother!

"Me at School - 1944" - Geraldine Margaret Guokas Pape at Incarnate Word Academy, Houston, Texas

© Amanda Pape - 2018 - click here to e-mail me.

Happy Birthday to My Baby Sister!

Mary on Halloween 1966.  She's got a red sucker in her mouth, that's why it looks like she has red lipstick on.


© Amanda Pape - 2018 - click here to e-mail me.

Sentimental Church (Record) Sunday: St. Vincent de Paul, Chicago: Interior, Decorative Painting

Six weeks ago I wrote about the exterior of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Chicago, where my Massmann great-grandparents, Frederick Henry Massmann, 1875-1948, and Elizabeth Regina Dienes Massmann, 1876-1946, were married on June 5, 1900.  Five weeks ago I started writing about the interior, specifically, the stained glass windows; continuing the next two weeks.  Two weeks ago I wrote about the main altar, and last week I wrote about the side altars and other statues in the church.

This week I am writing about the decorative painting in the church.  According to pages 22-23 of Heavenly City: The Architectural Tradition of Catholic Chicago, by Denis Robert McNamara, "An extensive decorative painting program executed by the prolific ecclesiastical painter John A. Mallin [this Czech immigrant also decorated St. Jerome in Rogers Park] once filled the entire interior with patterns and images, the vestiges of which still grace the sanctuary apse ceiling [pictured below]."  It's not stated why the rest of the paintings are gone, but the same 1955 fire in the south end of the church that resulted in a new choir loft stained glass window likely destroyed them.  An image of how the church looked before the fire is available on a website about John Mallin.

Above and (detail) below:  Decorative painting in sanctuary ceiling of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, Chicago.  Click on the images to make them larger.

According to that website, Mallin was hired to do these paintings in 1946, and was paid $20,000 for the work.  He is also responsible for four murals at the front of the church, two each over the two side altars.  I was able to use some clues in the murals to figure out what they depict.  Click on each image to make it larger.

Starting from the left as you look toward the altars, this first one is on the west wall above the left side altar to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God.  Jesus Christ is holding out the Red Scapular of the Passion to a nun who has a distinctive hat.  That hat, a cornette, is a mark of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, an order founded by this church's namesake and St. Louise de Marillac.  The nun pictured though is Sister Louise-Apolline-Aline Andriveau, 1810-1895, of France.

The next mural is immediately to the right of the Red Scapular mural, right above the Mary side altar, and faces south.  The clue in this photo were the words around the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  I could make out the words on her right side, which say, "have recourse to thee."  Those are the last few words on the Miraculous Medal, the design of which is based on the 1830 apparitions in France of Mary to St. Catherine Labouré (1806-1876), who was also a Daughter of Charity.  The entire sentence on the medal and around the image of Mary pictured below is "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee."  I am guessing that St. Catherine is the nun pictured.

Above the St. Joseph side altar, which is to the right of the main altar as you look at it, is this mural of "The Death of St. Joseph."  His foster son, Jesus Christ, is on one side of the dying saint, and the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, his wife, is on the other side. 

Finally, just to the right of the previous mural, on the east wall, is this mural of Jesus Christ appearing to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690), the French nun who promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Next Sunday, I will write about some of the other decorative and functional elements in the interior of this church.


© Amanda Pape - 2018 - click here to e-mail me.

Those Places Thursday: Willister Court Apartments, Portland, Oregon, An Ewald Pape Design

Another of the earlier designs of my architect first-cousin-twice-removed, Ewald Theodore Pape (1894-1976), is this apartment building at the corner of SE Madison and SE 29th, which at one time was known as the Willister Court Apartments.  Here's a photo I took of it from the Madison side in June 2018:




The "Middle Class Apartments in East Portland" Multiple Property Listing on file with the National Park Service has this to say about the Willister Court Apartments (section F, page 3):

"In 1928 [sic, should be 1926], Ewald Pape designed two quarter block apartment buildings, both one-story English Cottage style, for a parcel owned by Robert McFarland, the north half of the lot bounded by Madison, Hawthorne, 29th and 30th....the Willister Courts were at the west end at 2910 SE Madison Street [at the intersection with SE 29th]. For these parcels, Pape used an "L" shape and placed his units as close to the street as possible. The result was an interior courtyard for garages and greenspace away from the noise, dust and intrusion of the streets."

Here's the November 5, 1926 plumbing permit:

Here's the footprint of the building, from the PortlandMaps.com website.

Each unit has a separate address, with a front door and a back door.  Starting at the upper right corner of the map above, the units wrap around to the left (west) along Madison and then down (south) along 29th.  Here is 2924 SE Madison.  This corner unit has its main entrance to the right, behind the hedge, and the back door is on the left side of the building, somewhat visible.

And here - on the patio, on the left side, are the entrances to 2922 SE Madison (on the left) and 2920 SE Madison (with the flower on the door).

On the other half of this patio, you can see the front and back doors for 2918 SE Madison:

Next, steps from either side take you up to a landing with the entrances to 2912 and 2910 SE Madison:




On the corner of Madison and 29th is a very small unit with the address 1404 SE 29th.  Its front door is immediately to the right of the house number, on that stair landing, while its back door is also visible in this photo.  I'll write more about this unit in a bit (since I got to go inside it), but the windows immediately to the left of the house number are those of the living room, while the windows near the back door are for the bedroom

Continuing south along 29th, four units open onto a long narrow landing.  Here are 1410, 1412, and 1414 SE 29th:

And here are 1412 and 1414 (again) and 1418 SE 29th:

This is the other side of 1418 SE 29th.  There's a small sign hanging from the corner, pointing back to 1422 SE 29th, Units 1-4.  You can see another building in the background, to the right.  That building is NOT Ewald's design, which was only for the original 11 units in the complex.  It's a later addition, adding four units in a two-story building where I believe the garage advertised for the rest of the units used to be (back when cars were smaller and 11 cars might have actually fit on its location).

Below are some rough-drawn plans of the complex from PortlandMaps.com for a May 2017 permit to do some alterations.  It shows the access points to the basement storage areas and laundry room, as well as the main entry and back doors for all the units (except the back door for 1410).

While I was going around taking photos of the building, a lady residing in 1404 called out to me from her living room window and asked what I was doing.  When I explained that my architect relative had designed the building and I was documenting his work, she asked if I would like to see the inside of her apartment!

At left is the address sign and the mail slot for her unit.  I did not feel comfortable taking pictures of the interior, but I saw little things that let me know it was Ewald's design, such as small built-in shelving areas in the kitchen.

The apartment was quite small, but had an interesting flow.  I sketched a rough floor plan out, which is above right.  One enters the living room of the apartment, which flows to a small eating area and kitchen.  One must go through the bathroom to get to the bedroom, which is also where the back door for the apartment is.  The bedroom is quite small and only suitable for a twin or full-size bed.  The apartment is well lit, with windows on the west and north sides in the living area and a window (pictured below) in the kitchen area, as well as a window in the bedroom.

According to various articles in the Oregonian, the building sold in April 1931 for $45,000; in January 1935; in May 1936 (when the buyer named it Willister Court); in August 1938 (for $45,000 plus a trade for some suburban acreage); and in October 1952 (for $58,000); with a sale somewhere between those last two, probably in 1945.  An April 13, 1941 Oregonian article indicated the apartments were being "reconditioned," redecorated and with "installation of new ranges."  However, the exterior of the building, except for differences in paint, looks identical to photos that accompanied the May 24, 1936 and August 14, 1938 Oregonian articles about its sales.


© Amanda Pape - 2018 - click here to e-mail me.