Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-19
BY HUDSON GRUNEWALD.

T@ HE family church of the great
George Washington, Old Pohick;
the church Of Old Bruton par
ish, where Washington knelt and
prayed with the patriots before
taking decisive steps against the mother
country; st. Johns Church on Rich
mond Hill, where Patrick Henry deliv-
cred his immortal "Give me liberty or
give me death"address; old st. Luke's
Church near Smithfield, the Oldest
building now standing m America which
was constructed by an Englishman, and
other world shrines no less sacred, are
among the comparatively few Of the
parish churches Of Virginia built before
the Revolution and still remaining to-
day-each an inspiration and relic OF
the cradle days of the Nation.
To visit these shrineS Is to fold back
the curtains of history and live again
for the moment in the past, to be lift
ed back to the day of Indian pathed
forests, the times of the early colonists,
the days of courtly cavaliers 'in bril-
liant coats, flowing ruf1les, satin knee
breeches, silver shoe buckles, jeweled
swords and golden snuff boxes" and to
the era of struggles for independence
and the birth of the Nation.
Some stand alone, ivy grown, shaded
by ancient trees, bordered by simple
graveyards; some on the outskirts of
historic villages, and others in the midst
of growing cities-all important land
marks of the Old Dominion and all
readily accessible today over the States
highways.
To those unable to view them directly
there has been opened, through the eff
forts of Francis Marion Wigmore, a
prominent Vlrginian, a remarkable pic
torial-historical exhibit in the Library
of Congress, consisting Of collection
of photographs, colored in oil, to each
of which is attached legend of the
church it represents.
X
THE collection was prepared and his
- torically annotated by Mr.. Wig
more, under whose direction each detail
of the work was carried out. In an IN
troductory paragraph prefacing the cata-
logue of the exhibit, Mr.. Wigmore CRATE
fully acknowledges the untiring aid of
Roland Clifton Barrett in the making
Of the photographs, which had some
times to be done under very trying con-
dttions; of William oscar Hazard,
whose art in depicting the exquisite col
ors OF nature and OF the churcheS
speaks for itself, and of Charles Albert
Weckerly, whose painstaking penman-
ship in each and every letter of the
legends savors of the engraver's art"
Repeated visits to each shrine were
necessary" writes Mr.. Wigmore. mot
only for truthful portrayal, but for
that quiet communion with the past OF
each church and its surroundings
whereby alone the story can be re-
created"
The photographs are colored in oils
with fidelity to the scene as it now
exists, the artist being guided in his
color tones of each church by that only
truthful and eternal inspiration, the
original itself, and by a love for the
task
A chart showing the geographical
position of each old church has been
prepared by the author. and this will
aid in visualizing its history and its
whereabouts.
Commenting upon the exhibit in a
brief preface, Herbert Putnam, librarian
of Congress says;
The efforts Of any generation inter-
ested in architecture are divided be-
tween those who are designing new
structures fitted to a present need and
those who are concerned with the con-
sesrvatian of edificss Of the past, which