Pilgrim Baptist Church

“The expression of welcome is further enhanced by the Hebrew and English inscriptions over the arch, which read "Open for me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them, to praise the Lord." Flanking the entrance arch are two bays, each one consisting of a grouping of three recessed window openings at the first and second floors; panels of buff-colored, terra-cotta Sullivanesque ornament beneath the second-floor windows; and a large lunette at the third story.”

“The ornamentation incorporates sinuous foliage closely integrated within a geometric matrix, which is a departure from the free-flowing intertwining spirals and acanthus-like leaves used in the decorative designs of the Auditorium Building and other Adler and Sullivan structures of the period.”

“The ornamental detailing of the church is an important example of Sullivan's work of the period, representing a significant stage in the development of his personal philosophy of ornament.”

“Abraham Kohn, Adler's father-in-law, was among the founders of the congregation, and Liebman Adler, Adler's father, was its rabbi from 1861 until 1881. It was not surprising then, that in 1890, when the congregation sought to build a larger synagogue to replace the structure at 26th Street and Indiana Avenue that had served them since the early 1870s, the partnership of Adler and Sullivan was chosen to design the new edifice.”

“Although now covered with dark asbestos shingles, the clerestory was originally surfaced with a light-colored, patterned sheet metal, the decorative treatment of which was, according to Sullivan's biographer Hugh Morrison, "as beautiful as the pattern of an Oriental rug." Undoubtedly, the lighter color and the textured surface of the clerestory made the visual relationship between the base and the clerestory more harmonious than it is today.”