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Saint Botolph was "Stained Glass Row" (because of Charles Connick)

The Saint Botolph neighborhood saw the manufacture of tens of thousands of stained glass windows from 1913 to 1986 when the Charles J. Connick Associates Studio closed it's doors. They produced over 15,000 windows just for churches and public buildings, and they were not alone.

This was the center of the Arts & Crafts Movement in Boston. The first Arts & Crafts Guild in America was located a couple blocks away on Clarendon Street in 1897.  This neighborhood hosted design programs for textiles, cabinetry, ceramics, and other arts, but it was stained glass and book binding that made a home here.

This neighborhood also housed stained glass programs for MIT and Boston University a hundred years ago.

Later, Charles J. Connick Associates was
one of two nationally renowned stained glass manufacturers located here for more than 75 years

(all images on this page are from Connick Associates).

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According to Wikipedia.org, Charles J. Connick started his workshop in the Arts & Crafts guild space at 9 Harcourt Street in 1913. Connick’s most notable works include the rose windows of the Cathedrals of  St. Patrick and St. John the Divine in New York City, and windows in the American Church in Paris. One of his largest works is in the Heinz Memorial Chapel at the University of Pittsburgh." 

 

Mr. Connick’s work was recognized by Boston University and Princeton University with honorary degrees. Again from Wikipedia [yes, we donated],

"At his death [in 1946], The New York Times reported that

Dr. Connick was 'considered the world's greatest contemporary craftsman in stained glass.'" 

Today, the front of his studio is still visible next to the SW Corridor Park. It has changed. The top floor used to have a cathedral ceiling where craftsmen could construct large church windows (this was eliminated in a remodel, but the unusual top floor at O'Duggan was modified for the same reason and is still an odd architectural feature).

Twenty years after Charles Connick opened his studio, a second important stained glass company called John Terrence O'Duggan Studio (pronounced Oh Doug In) opened just 4 blocks away at 116 Saint Botolph Street on the corner of Durham Street.

 

So far, we have only been able to confirm two residences with windows from these stained glass manufacturers:

  • O'Duggan: the transoms and side windows at 116 Saint Botolph (note: the top floor was remodeled to accommodate crafting larger windows)

  • Connick: the transoms and side windows at 27 Saint Botolph

If you can confirm others, please contact us!

But it is certain that much of the stained glass in this neighborhood has the fingerprints of the craftspeople who worked with Connick and O'Duggan.

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A Connick Gallery (A Small Sample)  

Connick Gallery
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