by The Arlington Street Church was built between 1859–1861 in Boston’s Back Bay, though its congregation (Unitarian Universalist) dates to 1729.
The reason for my visit was to see the church’s 16 large-scale Tiffany windows, believed to be the largest collection of Tiffany windows in any one church. They were installed between 1898 and 1933 (prior to that, the windows were clear glass). The windows were designed by Frederick Wilson, who was Tiffany’s chief designer for ecclesiastical windows.
Four windows remain clear glass, as the Great Depression resulted in the church not having the funds to complete the project. By the time they were ready to go again, Tiffany Studios had gone out of business (1937). However, all of the windows were designed at the outset, so the church has watercolors by Wilson of the four windows that were never created, copies of which were on display (and which were lovely). Two of the windows had interior staircases blocking them, but all the others are included in this post.
Some shout-outs are due to the Arlington Street Church’s place in U.S. civil rights history. In the 1960s the congregation was active in the Civil Rights Movement, and minister James Reeb was murdered during a march in Selma, Alabama in 1965. On a happier note, on May 17, 2004 it was the site of the first state-sanctioned same-sex marriage in the United States.
