“An annotated memoir of the life and work of James Parks Morton for his family, friends and colleagues.”
-Pamela Morton and Polly Barton
The multifaceted Dean Morton takes us on an inspirational journey recounting his extraordinary life and many causes. The memoir is available for download HERE. And yes…there is a chapter on the stoneyard.
Of the many passages and stories to be enjoyed is the one where he saves the great Guastavino Dome. A committee had deemed the dome unsafe after mortar began falling to the floor of the Crossing. Their vote to tear down the dome and build a tower was imminent. Dean Morton, very early in his position, asked Bishop Moore to stall the decision. He had an engineer friend in Chicago who he called in to evaluate the situation. The engineer concluded that the problem was the difference in contraction and expansion between dissimilar materials – the clay tiles in the dome and the granite columns and arches. The solution was simple insulation for the roof of the dome and netting below for extra insurance. The 3 million dollars saved could then go to the future Stoneyard Institute.
Gazing at the Dome
“I looked up at the dome again. Amazing. I thought back in 1909, it was supposed to be temporary, and it had stood all this time. I marveled at the craftsmanship of Guastavino tile. It had been laid without scaffold or support. The architect in me rebelled at the idea of tearing it down.
But something else began to happen in me as well. Later I would learn that it happened to many of the men and women who became my colleagues. None of us is really able to describe the experience. It isn’t exactly awe, and it isn’t that the place talked to any of us. Maybe it was that the place seemed charged with an energy that was calling out to be used before it was lost for good.
Whatever it was, I knew after a few minutes gazing, that I would never permit that dome to be torn down. Furthermore, I vowed to start building the Cathedral again and to fill it with activity, life, and light. White elephant, nothing. We would use its vast scale to move even a city as big as New York to action, healing and communion.”
– James Parks Morton, 1972, from the book, With Companions for the Journey
Before the memoir, I wished I had known him. After the memoir, I regret I had not.
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- A special thanks to Pamela Morton and Polly Barton making the memoir accessible.
One reply on ““With Companions For The Journey””
A wonderful memoir of a true 20th Century Renaissance Man revealing connections with people who would reappear throughout his life that even the people who knew him well may not have known. I couldn’t put it down. Thank you, Pamela Morton, for sharing Jim with us all once again.