Stories from the First Cathedral 47

During Lent of 1903, the addition of Gilbert Hall was started with children in mind. Today the space is located between the Great Hall and the Kitchen of the Guild House. It is the most unusual room for its contents and for the motivation to teach the Cathedral children about the Christian faith.

On the North wall of Gilbert Hall is a long series (20ft+) of the cast of Singing and Dancing Children which is a bas-relief by della Robbia. There are other cast sculptures of the Madonna, David holding the head of Goliath, and St George and the Dragon. Also in the room is a representation of the Quest for the Holy Grail. 

"The Quest was given by the two Gilbert girls and their friends at St Mary's Hall in memory of Bishop Gilbert. It cost $300. Large sepia photographs of Sir Edwin Abbey's murals in Boston Public Library alternate with carved oak panels that recount this Arthuian legend. Undoubtedly the story was chosen for its moral wisdom. It features not only a bottle with the Seven Deadly Sins, but also a victory over temptation. In 1985 color photographs of the murals were installed. The original prints have been preserved and kept behind the photographs."

(The First Cathedral by Robert Neslund and Venerable Ben Scott 1987, p193) 

Other items that have been lost through the decades, which excited Sunday school children in 1903, were a collection of shells and rocks, artifacts from the Holy Land, picture books of ancient times, 50 little oak chairs (given by Evangeline Whipple) and a large sandbox for teachers to tell stories in the sand. I wish I would have been a teacher back then with a room filled with art, hands on goodies, and objects that would rival 21st century Sunday school supplies. 

When I give tours of the three buildings of the Cathedral, I usually end up at the Gilbert addition. By then my tour companions have been on visual overload. I usually do not have enough time to explain and appreciate these visual treasures from 1903.