This month we get inside the story of “a building imposing in size, utility, and beauty”: the Christian Science Publishing House. It was designed in the early 1930s by renowned architect Chester Lindsay Churchill, to house the operations of The Christian Science Publishing Society. Created with both utility and beauty in mind, this “living historical artifact” was intended to artfully communicate the values of that organization. Today the Publishing House is also home to the departments of the Christian Science Church, including The Mary Baker Eddy Library. We’ll learn how and why the Publishing House was designed and constructed—during the height of the Great Depression. Our guests also consider the ways this landmark building has been serving the Church’s mission for over 90 years as a Boston landmark and community asset.
Access more on this topic:
- From the Collections: The Christian Science Publishing House
- Kenneth Kingsley Stowell, “An Architectural Critic Views the New Publishing House” (PDF), The Christian Science Monitor, November 25, 1933.
Film: “The Printed Word” (1933):
Brooke Ten Eyck is Senior Project Manager for Real Estate Planning & Operations for The First Church of Christ, Scientist. Focusing on restoration and repair, her projects have included overseeing the recent construction of the How Do You See the World? experience on the first floor of the Christian Science Publishing House. Her activities also include liaising with many agencies in the city of Boston, including the Landmark Commission, which regulates exterior work done across the 14-acre Christian Science Plaza.
Ben Foti is a researcher at the Library. In his work he helps to answer the hundreds of public inquiries received annually on a variety of subjects about Mary Baker Eddy and the Christian Science movement. He also occasionally assists with special projects relating to the Library’s collections. He earned a BA in mass communication from Principia College in Elsah, Illinois. Prior to joining the Library staff, Foti worked for five years in the visitor services department at the Longyear Museum in nearby Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.
[Collage photos: Construction of the Christian Science Publishing House in progress, 1933. Still images from “The Printed Word” film, 1933. Images and footage © TFCCS. Additional images © MBEL or used by permission.]
