Open Door by Old South Church in Boston

Open door May/June 2015

Letter

Table of Contents

from the

Editors

Kate Nintcheu and Amy Perry

The first book printed in British North America (1640). The first medical broadside (1676). The first anti-slavery tract on this soil (1700). The earliest known printed document on recreation (1739). We are a wordy people and we are descended from the same. We love books, pamphlets, manuscripts, newspapers, magazines (you are holding one in your hand or reading one online now!) comics, plays, dissertations, sermons. We love libraries and bookstores (especially ones piled to the ceiling with used treasures awaiting our discovery). If you are like me, you are a voracious and indiscriminate reader, devouring everything from cereal boxes to ancient texts. So then, dear reader, read on. Read about Old South Church member Phillis Wheatley, the mother of African American poetry. Read Rev. John Edgerton’s columnar “Word Count” and artist Cathryn Griffith’s account of turning what her eye beheld into a book that explores the unique architecture of Havana. Read our own young poetess, Amanda Shu, discussing her writing process, and our own librarian, Bethany Johnson, arguing that libraries are still important centers for information, learning, and literacy. Finally, read on as Old Southers mouth off on what is or is not appropriate reading fare for young and tender eyes. Read on because you are a wordy person and descended from the same. And because, how can you not?

Ministry Spotlight

Word Count Rev. John Edgerton

Featured

Havana Revisited Cathryn Griffith

Voices. Listen. Amanda Shu

Do Libraries Still Stack Up? Bethany Johnson

Opinion

Rev. Nancy Taylor

Mouth-house

EDITORIAL Amy Perry

EDITOR & PUBLISHER

Chris Breen CHAIR, COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE: David Albaugh, Brian Fluharty, Chris Breen, Jackie Geilfuss, Jim Hood, Amy Perry, Corey Spence, Nancy Taylor, William Wei

Old South Church in Boston 645 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116 Ph. (617) 536-1970 OldSouth.org Facebook.com/OldSouthChurch | @OSCboston

CREDITS Cover Sharon Mollerus 2-3 Used by permission from the author 6 Jan David Hanrath

Open door 1

ministry spotlight

Phillis Wheatley Sunday Since 2012, Old South Church has reserved one Sunday each year in celebration of a remarkable member. No other member is celebrated in such a way – not William Dawes who took a famous Midnight Ride, not even Benjamin Franklin or Sam Adams who of course need no introduction. On Mother’s Day, this year May 10th, Old South Church honors Phillis Wheatley – mother of African American poetry – on the occasion of her birthday. Following a rousing sermon, congregants in festive church hats (in homage to the African American church practice of dressing smartly from head to toe) depart Old South Church and promenade to the Boston Women’s Memorial on Commonwealth Ave. We gather around Phillis, memorialized in bronze, to read blessings and poetry, and to proclaim that genius knows neither color nor creed. This year, Children and Family Ministries is adding a special intergenerational fair at the 10 am Community Hour with poetry, storytelling, drawing, and birthday cupcake decorating. The Boston Women’s Memorial, Women’s Heritage Trail, and institutions like the Boston Public Library work to keep Phillis’ story alive, but sadly her feat as the first published African American poetess is widely unknown. A few facts about Phillis: c.1753

Phillis is born in West Africa. At 7 or 8 years of age, she is captured by slavers. She arrives in Boston aboard The Phillis and is purchased by John Wheatley. 1761 to

1767

Phillis serves as Susanna Wheatley’s personal servant. Despite her status, she is schooled like the Wheatley children. Learning to speak, read, and write English, Phillis also studies poetry, history, and the Classics.

1767

Young Phillis writes “On Messrs. Hussey and Coffin”, which is published in the Newport Mercury (RI). 1771

Phillis is baptized by and joins Old South Church.

Word Count Rev. John Edgerton

Many of you know that I have the privilege to write for the UCC’s Stillspeaking Writers’ Group, publishing daily devotionals for the denomination. But here are some fun and little known facts about my writings over the past year:

527 Total

tweets I helped write during General Synod 29, offering (allegedly) humorous commentary on the proceedings at the United Church of Christ’s biennial gathering.

500 Out

of a possible score of 500, how surprised I was when the denomination found my tweets interesting enough to invite me to join The Stillspeaking Writers’ Group.

363 Times

my most recent devotional was shared to Facebook.

300 Words allowed per devotional ... and I mean

EXACTLY how many words are allowed, including: title, relevant scripture, the chapter and verse of the scripture, even my name counts against the word limit!

The day of the month when my devotionals are published.

Total devotionals written to date.

1772

Phillis is “examined” for the authenticity of her writing by a group of respected men in Boston. It is determined that she is indeed the author of her poetry. 1773

Phillis’ book of poetry is published in England, with the help of the Countess of Huntington. 1773

Phillis’ book arrives in Boston aboard The Dartmouth. Unfortunately, her much-anticipated book was captive in the hold of the ship while Sam Adams held a ‘tea party’. In early December, all of the cargo, except the tea, was finally removed from the ship.

Seasonal devotional books (Advent 2014 and Lent 2015) for the denomination that I’ve contributed to.

Month in advance that devotionals are due ahead of publication.

zero Places I would rather be a minister than Old South Church, where I get to do something this fun and call it work!

2 Open door

The origins of the book Havana Revisited: An Architectural Heritage can be dated to April 2003, when I arrived in Havana for the first time. The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, where I was studying photography, had permission from the United States government to take visual arts students to Cuba. Restrictions regarding travel to Cuba by American citizens have eased since President Obama announced policy changes in December 2014. But regulations imposed by the U.S. government in 2003 were stringent and became more so in the following years.

Havana

On my way from the airport to my hotel that Sunday afternoon, the idea of publishing a book was the farthest thing from my mind. I was absorbed in visual impressions as I passed well-designed streets, parks, and magnificent buildings. I became very curious. Who designed them? When were they built, and for what purpose? How are they used now? A few months later, while visiting a friend in Paris, I bought some old picture postcards of Havana in a flea market. It was an impulsive act, because at the time I had no plans to ever go back to Cuba. But, drawn in part by my curiosity about the scenes pictured on the postcards, I returned to Havana. The postcard photographs, made between 1900 and the early 1930s, became my guide to exploring the city. Looking for the locations pictured on the postcards was like going on a treasure hunt. I continued to collect colorful old postcards, and I kept returning to Havana, always looking for the places illustrated in my growing postcard collection.

The concept for my book emerged slowly, as my casual interest in the architecture and urban design of the city grew deeper. During frequent one- and two-week trips to Cuba (I’ve been there 16 times), I talked with leading architects, historians, and urban planners, as well as hotel workers, taxi drivers, and people in the streets. I was learning about Havana and its history, and I was also learning about Cubanidad, a broad and ambiguous notion of what it means to be Cuban. The island’s mixture of Spanish, African, Chinese, and indigenous roots, as well as its political and cultural history, contribute to Cubans’ proud national identity. In line with this, Havana’s position as the most important city in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean during Spanish colonial times helps explain the city’s impressive urban design and architecture, most of which is still standing today.

An observant visitor to Havana can learn a lot about Cuba’s political history from its public buildings. Early Spanish colonial governors lived in the Castillo de la Real Fuerza (1550) where the royal shield of the House of Austria, which ruled Spain at the time, is prominently displayed. Later, Spanish colonial governors lived in the stately Governors’ Palace. Following the so-called Spanish-American War, Cuban rulers moved to the Presidential Palace, official residence of the presidents of the Republic until 1960. Spaniards who settled in Cuba built elaborate cultural centers where they could gather. The Centro Gallego, decorated in a style reminiscent of European opera houses, today is the home of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba. The Centro Asturiano is a fine arts museum. The former Union Club, built by a group of Englishmen and distinguished by caryatids on the balcony overlooking the sea, now houses the Centro Hispano-Americano de la Cultura.

Open door 3

to April 2003, when I arrived in Havana for the first time, the roots go back much farther.

A more recent inscription reads: To the victims of the Maine who were sacrificed for the imperialistic voracity in their eagerness to seize the island of Cuba.

Revisited

Eventually, I decided to produce a book based on my personal research and observations in Havana. It includes my photographs, juxtaposed with old picture postcards of the same location, and captions that I wrote about buildings, parks, streets, and neighborhoods. I also asked several renowned scholars, architects, preservationists, and urban planners in Havana, plus two scholars in the United States, to write essays for each of the book’s 12 chapters. These policy-makers, thinkers, and historians brought their vast knowledge to the book and added immeasurably to its contents. Although it’s accurate to say that the origins of the book Havana Revisited: An Architectural Heritage date

Cathryn Griffith

Although there’s no obvious reason for my interest in Havana’s architecture — I have no Cuban roots, for instance — I saw the connection with history as I explored Havana’s built environment. It’s been said that writers write about what they know. In my case, I photographed and wrote about what I knew: that a rich and fascinating history can be found by exploring buildings and places. About the Author Cathryn Griffith, who studied photography at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, lives in the Back Bay. As a young widow raising their daughter, Sarah, she learned to run the real estate development business founded by her late husband and also earned a degree in French Culture at Wellesley College.

Page 3: Cathedral of Havana

I spent my childhood near Erie, Pennsylvania, on land that had been farmed by my great-great grandparents, and I grew up hearing stories of my ancestors’ lives. As the family drove along country roads, someone would say, “Your grandmother grew up in that house” or “Your great-grandfather’s house was there” and then I’d hear stories of those people. And so, from my earliest years, history and places were intertwined. The stories of my ancestors’ lives instilled important values that fortified and guided me while I raised my daughter after my husband, my parents, and my grandparents had all passed on.

Page 2: National Museum of Fine Arts of Havana

The city’s sculptural monuments also reveal important history. The statue of Spanish King Fernando VII, which stood in the center of the Plaza de Armas until 1955, was replaced by the sculpture of a Cuban hero, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, a lawyer and wealthy plantation owner who freed his slaves in 1868 and led the first serious attempt to achieve independence from Spain. The Medical Students’ Memorial pays homage to eight young Cuban medical students shot by Spanish colonial authorities in 1871. A tall, waterfront monument commemorates the explosion of the U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor in February 1898, which precipitated the United States’ declaration of war against Spain in April 1898. Inscriptions on the U.S.S. Maine monument were added at different times. One reads, in part: The people of the island of Cuba are and by rights must be free and independent.

4 Open door

v o i c e s l i s t e n Amanda Shu Listen. I am going to tell you how I write, which will answer the question of why I write. And because I am what I do, because my view of the world has been changed by the work that I create, my writing will show you who I am and where I’m headed. It starts with a voice. Some voices readily speak out to me, surprising me as I walk down the hallway. They shout in a gruff Scottish accent or a sarcastic drawl with a hint of suppressed dread: Oi, you! Listen! I’ve got a story to tell. Or I ain’t gon’ leave you ‘lone ‘til you put pen to paper. Sometimes they beg me to soothe their sadness, to show them something, anything, to keep them going, because they just can’t take their pain anymore. Sometimes they scream and run around my mind in a restless mania that leaves me shaking. They are angry, or desperate, or ecstatic, or just plain loud. They beg to be listened to, and command my full attention. But some voices are soft. Some I have to search for and, once I’ve found them, some voices I must coax out of their silence. These voices are afraid to speak out; these voices I can’t afford to ignore. Because the stories that these voices carry are often the most important, the most powerful. When I hear someone’s voice, that someone becomes a real person to me. No one else speaks quite

like that one voice. This character I’ve created may be fictional, as many of the best people are, but she is still a human with wants and needs and rights. And the more you treat a person as a fellow human, the more you get to find out who she really is at the core. Writing is a deeply spiritual endeavor for me, because writing is how true empaths are made. Sharing deep, raw emotions with someone else makes you more compassionate, more understanding, and more hopeful. When I write, I become a part of my characters, or the speakers of my poems. I become a part of their inner voices. When I create, I become a sort of conduit, a vessel, a prism through which the emotions of humanity flow and are transformed. Call the voices of the world what you will—inspiration, imagination, suppressed demands of the subconscious. Call them the Holy Spirit, the rush of a violent wind, the tongues of fire that once united the whole world through language, or call them the still, small voice of God. I choose to call them the Word, which was in the beginning with God, the life and the light of all people. So listen. Listen to my voice and to any voice, however soft, that calls out to you when least expected. Listen to the stories these voices carry with them, for it is through the telling of these tales that we humans come to truly understand one another. Listen. I think I hear a new voice even now.

Open door 5

. .

“Juliet” You have become a goddess of love to those who write to you. Beyond a thirteen-year-old girl, beyond a heroine in a Shakespeare tragedy, you are a deity of Verona, immortalized by the sentimental who place their prayers between the stones of the Wailing Wall beneath your balcony. Poetry springs from your blushing pilgrim lips, words to complete a sonnet swirling in your love-swathed thoughts. I want to do the same. I want to speak sweetly and trippingly on the tongue, but I am not you, but Hamlet, poetic and wild and unfathomable, complex in love and passionate in vengeance, whose purpose pushes away intimacy— you have to make a promise to search the depths of my madness to love me, to understand me. No, love goddess, I am not you. I am Mercutio and Prospero, Hamlet and Prince Hal. I am uncertain and wavering, and I know not whether I walk in reality or float in a world made of clouds. We are both dreamers, Juliet, but I could not take up your happy dagger, not even for sonnets of never-ending light. For your love leads to dying, and mine must keep me alive.

About the Author Amanda Shu is a graduating senior at Melrose High. She focuses mainly on writing fantasy, science fiction, and, of course, poetry, but will occasionally poke her head out of the clouds and participate in what is known as “real life.”

Do Lib

raries

Still S

tack U

p? William Wei

Open door 7

Bethany Johnson To say I literally grew up in a library is – only perhaps – an exaggeration. My mother brought my brother and me to story hour starting at a very young age. My Godmother was a town librarian, and my grandmother volunteered at a library circulation desk. For my family it came to no surprise when I decided to pursue a Master’s degree in Library Science. When most people hear the word “library” they think of an older building full of musty books. And the word “librarian” may conjure up the image of an old woman in a plaid skirt and sweater set, stamping books and shushing noisy patrons. One definition of “library” reads: A place set apart to contain books, periodicals, and other materials for reading, viewing, listening, study or reference as a room, set of rooms or building where books may be read or borrowed. Librarians are defined only as a person trained in library science and engaged in library service. These definitions are limited, especially for today. Libraries are centers of information, learning, and literacy open and available for those who might not otherwise have access to the information they need. Librarians are trained in the art and science of finding information and answering questions with what little we are provided. Whether it is finding the recipe for angel food cake in that specific red cookbook with a picture of a turkey on the cover, or helping to figure out which came first, basketball or baseball. Some of us find these challenges fun. It is rewarding to watch a patron find exactly what they are looking for. Even more fun and rewarding is working with younger readers. Helping an eager child find just the right book or watching as they read their favorite book all by themselves for the first time, making connections between the information they have learned in class and the information they find in the library. These days, a majority of information can be accessed outside of books. The Oxford English Dictionary is available online, and Encyclopedia Britannica doesn’t even publish print volumes anymore. We access information with the click of a mouse or the swipe of a finger. Ten years ago, carrying small computers in our pockets would have been the stuff of science fiction. Most of my students have never known a world without the

internet. They find it funny that I did not start to use it until college. (It’s a nice segue into showing them how I used to do research.) If we have all of this information available to us right at our fingertips, why do we even need libraries or librarians anymore? First, not everyone has personal access to a computer. Second, believe it or not, not everything is available on the internet. Libraries are and always will be centers for accessing information. Just because the ways we access information changes does not mean that we do not still need certain skills for its use. I once read that when you type a word into a search engine, like Google, information floods at you at the equivalent rate of gushing water from a fire hydrant. As an elementary school librarian a large part of my job is to teach children how to “filter the water” — finding relevant, useful information in the flood of data; weeding out false information, bias, and opinion; and using other resources and previously known information to double check the accuracy of our findings. I also provide them with the skills needed to explore new ways of sharing information — through video, photo, the web, or whatever else comes in the future. Many of these skills can be practiced in a variety of ways. For instance, the skills used to complete a word search or crossword puzzle are the same skills used for research. In a word search you look for a pattern of letters forming a specific word among what, at first glance, seems like a random assortment of letters. In research you are looking for specific facts or answers within a larger chunk of information. A crossword puzzle works similarly. You use clues and strategies to figure out how to fill in the words in a grid. These are all skills that are useful in research. They all have to be introduced, taught, and practiced. Information is a constant and how we access it is always changing, whether it is preserving the past or figuring out the future. Whether it is found in a book printed 300 years ago or has traveled at the speed of light to a device the size of a pack of playing cards. Information will always have to be sorted, categorized, cataloged, and organized to make access easier. For that reason alone we will always need libraries and librarians. About the Author Bethany Johnson has been a librarian for seven years. She serves on the Congregational Care and Support Committee and is an active member of the Old South Knitters.

8 Open door

mouth-house

(opinion)

If you were to chaperone a trip to the public library with teenagers, would there be any books you would not allow them to check out?

“As a writer for kids and a writer of educational materials, I’ve carefully considered this question. I don’t believe that we should control what teenagers (or younger kids) read. People will tell you that adults should make sure teens and kids read what they’re ‘ready for.’ To teachers, ‘ready’ most often means reading level; can they read a page of text and only encounter five unknown words? To parents, ‘ready’ means emotional content: is it too scary? Does it include sex or violence? Is it too dark for my sensitive child? Here’s what I know from my own experience as a reader, a parent, and a former teacher: only a kid can tell what they’re ready for and interested in. If a book is too much emotionally, they’ll stop reading it — unless some adult makes them finish every book they start. Studies show that if a book captures a child’s/teen’s interest, they’ll read way beyond their tested reading level. So, though I have been known to steer kids toward books I think they’ll enjoy reading and books that I expect are at a good reading level for them, I wouldn’t rule out any book they want to read. On the other hand, I would remind the adults in their lives that allowing teens to choose what they read also means allowing them to choose to stop reading that book if it’s not right for them. So rather than saying ‘No’ to any book, I’d say, ‘Yes, take that one and maybe pick a couple more just in case you don’t like one of them once you start.’”

“I would defend their right as (young) adults to check any book out, and I would also take the time to discuss a questionable book with them as young (adults).”

“When we were teenagers, my brother checked out Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler from our high school library. He was studying history and wanted to better understand Hitler. Some of his teachers were concerned. My parents and the school librarian defended his right to check the book out. Then they took the time to discuss the book with him. I would take the same approach with teenagers today. I would defend their right as (young) ADULTS to check any book out, and I would also take the time to discuss a questionable book with them as YOUNG (adults).” Kathleen Simone

Sarah Monsma-Billings

“I would have parents complete a permission form indicating whether they have any restrictions, but besides that, no. When I taught eighth grade English, I found that allowing students to choose their own books all year improved literacy and fostered a love of reading even in nonreaders.” Jenny Fraker

“Honestly, if I were banned from reading a book, the first thing I would do when I got to the library would be to seek the book out. Banning things has never been terribly effective with me.” Honner Billings, age 18

Open door 9

“I don’t think I would prevent a teenager from checking something out, unless it were clearly pornographic ... and then so would the circulation librarians. However, if I were to note a particularly troubling tome (such as American Psycho, a novel a teenager once asked me to pick up for them at the library), I might voice my concern to them, ask them whether they knew what it was about, and whether they thought their parents/guardians would be comfortable with their reading that book. I might also give the teacher a heads-up; that way he/she could later talk to the teen about what they had read. (Sometimes, teens just want to be known as someone who dared to take out a particular book, and then they don’t actually read it!)” Betsy Ragan

“Absolutely not! The teenage years are the perfect, natural time to explore new writing genres. My goodness, when I think of just some of the authors I sampled as a teen: Kosinski, Weisel, Bettelheim, (Stephen) King, Bradbury, Nin, Melville, Austen, Hugo, Greer, Kafka, Shakespeare ... I get excited all over again.” Pam Roberts

“Discourage a teenager from reading a book? No way! I might suggest some additional books to balance any choice, which I thought was unwise. The antidote to bad books is to also read better books.” Larry Bowers

“As someone without children of my own, I would still try to encourage independent, responsible, and critical thinking as much as possible. With this in mind, I would not censor what teenagers check out, however I would encourage an open and non-judgmental dialogue (where possible) as far as what they would choose on their own to check out.” Erik Gustafson

“In full disclosure, I have spent the last several years leading, mentoring, and researching young people ranging from 11 to 25 years old, including Old South’s own Youth Group, and my undergraduate capstone explored the relationship between media consumption (particularly television) and adolescent identity development. That said, I can attest to how significant ‘vicarious experience’ is for adolescent identity development. Books and other forms of media allow teenagers to safely explore their own identities, beliefs, and behaviors. While I recognize that some media can be harmful for adolescents (because it reinforces unrealistic or dangerous social constructions and expectations), I don’t believe we should censor teenagers’ self-exploration. Instead, we should equip teenagers with strong critical media literacy skills to analyze and challenge what they’re consuming in books, on television and in movies, in advertisements, and in music. Fortunately our youth at Old South are deeply thoughtful and analytical, and I can’t wait for you to hear from them on Youth Sunday, June 7th!” Jackie Geilfuss, Youth Group Leader

Old South Church is a vibrant and historic congregation of the United Church of Christ in the heart of Bostonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Back Bay. To check out our Adult or Children & Family Ministries, visit us online at OldSouth.org. Or better yet, walk through our open doors seven days a week.