St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral (Memphis, Tennessee) facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral
Diocesan House, Cathedral, Sisters' Chapel
St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral Location in Tennessee
35°8′48.2″N 90°2′12.56″W / 35.146722°N 90.0368222°W / 35.146722; -90.0368222
Location	700 Poplar Avenue Memphis, Tennessee
Country	United States
Denomination	Episcopal
History
Status	Cathedral
Founded	1858 (parish)
Consecrated	1871
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Architect(s)	William Halsey Wood (original plans), L. M. Weathers, and Bayard Snowden Cairns
Style	Late Gothic Revival (Early English period)
Completed	1858 (original) 1888 (chapel) 1898 (crypt) 1907 (west front and nave) 1926 (tower, transepts, chancel)
Administration
Diocese	West Tennessee
Province	IV (Southeast)

St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral is a beautiful church located near downtown Memphis, Tennessee. It serves as the main church for the Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee. A cathedral is like the "home church" for the bishop, who is a leader in the Episcopal Church.

History of St. Mary's Cathedral
Images for kids
See also

History of St. Mary's Cathedral

How St. Mary's Began

St. Mary's started as a small mission chapel in North Memphis. It was created by a group of ladies from Calvary Church. This was the first Episcopal church in Memphis.

The first service at St. Mary's was held on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1857. It was led by Charles Quintard. He later became an important bishop for the Diocese of Tennessee.

A newspaper article from that time described the new church. It said that St. Mary's would have "free seats." This was special because other churches often charged money for pews. This meant that more people, even those without a lot of money, could attend services.

St. Mary's officially became a parish church on May 13, 1858. This was done by Bishop James Hervey Otey, the first Bishop of Tennessee.

First Episcopal Cathedral in the South

Just thirteen years after it started, St. Mary's became the very first Episcopal cathedral in the southern United States. This official change happened on January 1, 1871.

At that time, not many Episcopal churches in America were called cathedrals. Cathedrals were more common in England. But as the church grew, more American dioceses started having cathedrals. St. Mary's was a leader in this trend.

Helping During the 1878 Yellow Fever Epidemic

Memphis faced many outbreaks of yellow fever in the 1800s. This was a serious illness spread by mosquitoes. The worst outbreak happened in 1878. Over 5,000 people in Memphis died, and the city lost many residents.

A few years before, a group of Episcopal nuns, called the Sisters of St. Mary, came to Memphis. Bishop Quintard invited them to run the St. Mary's School for Girls. This school is now known as St. Mary's Episcopal School.

When the 1878 epidemic hit, many brave people stayed behind to help the sick. This included priests, nuns, doctors, and even a local business owner named Annie Cook. They knew it was very risky, but they wanted to help.

St. Mary's Cathedral became a relief center during this time. The Sisters of St. Mary and Episcopal priests worked there. Sadly, the leader of the nuns, Sister Constance, and three other nuns, along with two priests, died from yellow fever at the cathedral.

These brave people are remembered as "Constance and Her Companions." They are also called the "Martyrs of Memphis." The Episcopal Church honors them every year on September 9.

Here are the names of Constance and Her Companions:

Sister Constance (Caroline Louise Darling), the leader of the nuns.
Sister Thecla, who taught music and languages.
Sister Ruth, a nurse.
Sister Frances, who cared for an orphanage.
The Rev. Charles Carroll Parsons, a priest from Memphis.
The Rev. Louis S. Schuyler, a new assistant priest.

The Very Rev. George Harris, who was the dean of the cathedral, survived the yellow fever. Sister Hughetta also survived and continued the nuns' work in Tennessee.

The "New" Cathedral Building

The current beautiful Gothic Revival style building of St. Mary's Cathedral was built over many years. Construction started in 1898 and finished in 1926. The cathedral was then also called "Gailor Memorial." This was to honor Bishop Thomas Frank Gailor, who was an important leader in the Episcopal Church.

Responding to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Assassination

King memorial at Westminster Abbey

St. Mary's Cathedral played a role in another important historical event. This was the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968. King was killed just two miles from the church.

The day after King's death, many religious leaders from Memphis met at the cathedral. The dean of the cathedral, William Dimmick, decided to act. He took the cathedral's cross and led the ministers in a march to City Hall. They wanted to ask the mayor to help end a labor strike. King had been in Memphis to support sanitation workers who were protesting for better conditions and pay.

Because of Dean Dimmick's actions for racial unity, almost half of the cathedral's members left the church. They disagreed with his public stand.

Like Constance and her companions, Martin Luther King, Jr. is also honored by the Episcopal Church. His feast day is April 4. He is also remembered with a statue at Westminster Abbey in London, along with other important figures.

Sisters of St. Mary at Memphis
Monastery information
Sisters' Chapel and St. Mary's School, 1900
Other names	St. Mary's School for Girls, Church Home
Order	Community of St. Mary (Episcopal) founded in New York, NY, 1865 as the "Sisterhood of St. Mary"
Established	1873, at request of Bishop Charles Quintard
Disestablished	1910, when the sisters formally moved to St. Mary's on the Mountain Convent, Sewanee, Tennessee
Mother house	Mount St. Gabriel Convent, Peerskill, New York
Diocese	Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee
People
Founder(s)	Sister Constance, superior at Memphis; Sister Harriet, founder and mother superior, Sisterhood of St. Mary
Important associated figures	Constance and her Companions (yellow fever martyrs listed in the Episcopal Calendar of Saints)
Site
Location	On the close of St. Mary's Cathedral, Memphis, Tennessee
Visible remains	Sisters' Chapel (on the cathedral close), original New York 1865 Sisters' altar (in the cathedral nave), group grave marker of yellow fever martyrs at Elmwood Cemetery
Public access	Today, a number of St. Mary's Cathedral members (men and women, lay and ordained) are also associates of the Community of St. Mary: people who commit themselves to follow a personal "rule of life".

The Diocese of West Tennessee

Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee

For a long time, the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee covered the entire state. But in 1982, it was divided into three parts. This was based on the three main regions of Tennessee.

The Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee was created in 1982. St. Mary's Cathedral became its main church. Later, in 1985, the Diocese of Tennessee was split again. This created the Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee.

Each new diocese kept an important part of the old statewide church. West Tennessee got St. Mary's Cathedral. Middle Tennessee kept the name "Diocese of Tennessee." East Tennessee welcomed Bishop William Evan Sanders as its first bishop.

It's interesting that St. Mary's was the first Episcopal cathedral in the South. But the other two cathedrals in Tennessee, Christ Church in Nashville and St. John's in Knoxville, are actually older churches. They were founded earlier, in 1829.

Images for kids

Richard Hines, first rector, 1857-1871
Deacon Carol Gardner and Bishop Don Johnson in Easter procession 2007
North transept: This stone is part of one of the columns of the balustrade that surrounded the ancient Pool of Bethesda. Brought from Jerusalem by Bishop Thomas F. Gailor, June 1, 1928.
"Sisters of St. Mary Window"
First cathedral building c. 1898
Sister's Chapel and St. Mary's School, c. 1900
Recession exiting the chancel
cross-section view
View out the West Front door
"West" front interior
Altar with cross enshrouded for Lent
Dean William A. Dimmick, 1960
"Saint on break" in Sisters' Chapel
Detail from the "Baptism Window"
Cathedral Guild Lunches, 1906
Sisters' Chapel (1888), the oldest structure in the Cathedral complex.
The cathedral flanked Diocesan House (left) and the Sisters' Chapel (right)
Glastonbury Abbey stone
Cathedral construction bond
Window detail of Mary and Jesus
Parish Hall, built on the site of the Cloister Garden
Cathedra (bishop's seat)
looking east across nave
"South" transept windows
In 1962 Dean Sanders was consecrated as "Bishop Coadjutor Sanders," Diocese of Tennessee