From the time Joseph Badger arrived in the Western Reserve as the first missionary of the Connecticut Missionary Society to tend to both the Congregational and Presbyterian pioneers united under the Plan of Union (1800), the focal point of the many different peoples to settle in the Cleveland area has often been the local church or synagogue. As greater Cleveland grew, its citizens built over eighteen hundred churches, temples, and synagogues. Today, the towers, steeples, and domes of these buildings fill the city's skyline. This exhibition seeks to bring to your attention the cultural and aesthetic significance of some of Cleveland's grandest architecture.
The passage of time has added considerably to the function and significance of these structures. Ethnic communities flourished in Cleveland from the mid-19th century. The neighborhood church was a link with the land the immigrants left and a bridge to the new world. Many of these Congregations were led by people of vision and purpose. As the clergy and lay faithful did their utmost to make them proud representatives of their individual cultures, churches and synagogues became symbols of the communities they served. As a result, structures such as the German St. Stephen's, St. Theodosius and its onion-shaped cupolas, and St. John A.M.E., the first church built by a Cleveland African American congregation, maintain an emotional resonance for a high percentage of Clevelanders, even those more than one generation removed from the old neighborhoods. Together with other sacred structures, these buildings reflect what is probably the most appealing feature of this city: its remarkable diversity of people and cultures.
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