This Wednesday is the first cast meeting for common art’s fall play, which I have the honor of co-directing alongside our fabulous playwright, Richard Berman! The plan is to start with a warm-up activity to break the ice and create a comfortable and welcoming meeting environment. Then, Richie will introduce the play by giving a quick overview of the plot and his vision for the performance, which will take place at noon on December 16 in the Parish Hall. Continue reading
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Boston’s Home for Aged Colored Women
March 3, 2025
To honor women’s history this month, we turn to a story of little seen women in Boston at the time Emmanuel was being founded. The Boston Globe published an article about the discovery of a marker for the Home for Aged Colored Women (1860-1944) in Dorchester’s Cedar Grove Cemetery (“From a mass grave in Boston, unearthing Black women’s lives” by Karilyn Crockett (February 3, 2025)
The Home, founded in 1860, was among the Boston institutions that offered shelter and support to women who did not have financial or other family support. In the case of the Home for Aged Colored Women, historical news accounts and the organization’s records (located at the Massachusetts Historical Society) state that women of color applied to the Home after not being welcomed at almshouses and other benevolent institutions.
We discovered that Emmanuel parishioners were benefactors of the Home from the 1860s onward (among them was Susan Coombs Dana (Mrs. Wiliam R. Lawrence).
We invite you to explore these sites which explore the Home’s history in more detail
—The National Park Service’s page about the Home.
–Mary Beth Clack, Mary Blocher, Cindy Coldren, Pat Krol, Liz Levin
Martin Luther King and Prophecy
“As a young man, with most of my life ahead of me, I decided early to give myself to something eternal and absolute. Not to those little gods that are here today and gone tomorrow. But to God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
–Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr., chapter 4
As commemorations for Martin Luther King, Jr. take place in various venues this month, we reflect on his prophetic voice, prompted by Pam’s sermon on the Second Sunday after the Epiphany. Pam spoke about the work of “connecting the dots” in scripture and sacred stories. By listening closely to the messengers of God who link the human and the divine, we deepen our understanding of these narratives–these “pieces of the fabric of community.” Continue reading
Creativity in Our Parish Hall
I was back in several groups this week. Specifically, on Thursday at Cafe Emmanuel, we had a musical performance during our lunch meal. It was a pleasure to have students in Boston Conservatory play for everyone. The combination of music, art, meal, coffee, and company was deeply satisfying. When the sunlight got through the room and the stage by the beautiful window, I also noticed people following the tempo of the music during the performance with satisfied faces. We all agree that music is a great way to connect people in the room, and that power in art is not limited to painting, and it also includes music, performance, poetry, and other creativity, etc.
Meanwhile, I also couldn’t take my eyes off the rainbow message we have been making since this year. Each small piece of paper from each week is now gathering like a big rainbow flag which includes non-stop memories for three months; that’s amazing. Three months is probably not a long time for many people, but it means a lot to me as an art therapist student working at Emmanuel Church.
December 10 was Human Rights Day; the theme for 2022 is “Dignity, Freedom, and Justice for All.” I understand we still have many difficulties going on in the social system and suffering on a personal level. Advocating from a personal level, step by step will become a power to inspire people in the future. Therefore, I created a music box representing all of Cafe Emmanuel’s energy this year, and I will continue working on it.
1900
Joseph Hersey Pratt, M.D. (1872-1956)
Dr. Joseph H. Pratt joined the faculty of Harvard Medical School and served as secretary of Ascension Chapter of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew. He reported in the Year Book of Emmanuel Parish that members of its Sailors Committee visited about a dozen vessels per month to distribute literature and invite men to the mission church. See also his later role in founding the Emmanuel Movement.