Grace Cathedral, San Francisco

The cathedral's ancestral parish, Grace Church, was founded in 1849 during the California Gold Rush. Little Grace Pro-Cathedral (1907) was built on the new site, flanking Taylor Street near California Street, and a cathedral design by noted English Gothic Revival architect George Frederick Bodley was accepted. Little Grace was built on Powell near Jackson, across the street from the first Episcopal church in San Francisco, Trinity Church. After Trinity Church moved away, Grace Church moved into the larger building; this third church, unofficially referred to as Grace "Cathedral" because of its size. In 1862, construction began at California and Stockton. Prominent members of San Francisco society joined the parish in the third church, including Leland Stanford and William Henry Crocker. satirizing the church's somewhat unsuccessful efforts to find a short-term rector in the 1860s and 1870s, "stating" that he had written to one New York priest who had already turned down Grace's offer of $7,000 per year (): "A word in your ear: say nothing to anybody - keep dark - but just pack up your traps and come along out here... They never expected you to clinch a bargain like that. I will go to work and get up a little competition among the cloth". When the 1862 building was destroyed in the fire following the 1906 earthquake, the Grace parish opened a temporary facility in 1907. which took its name and founding congregation from the nearby Grace parish. Dean J. Wilmer Gresham nurtured the young cathedral and work began on the present structure with the laying of the cornerstone in 1910. ==Design and features==

File:Grace Cathedral1.jpg|Façade File:Grace Cathedral (2p).jpg|Three-quarters view of cathedral File:Grace Cathedral (1a).jpg|From California Street File:Flood Mansion and Grace Cathedral (San Francisco).JPG|Crest of Nob Hill, with Flood Mansion File:Grace Cathedral interior with labyrinth.jpg|Labyrinth and interior (2018) File:Grace Cathedral (5124228608).jpg|Beniamino Bufano's statue of Saint Francis File:Architect and engineer (1934) (14741552296).jpg|Structural steel (1934) The initial plans were drawn up by George Bodley and redesigned by his partner Cecil Hare after Bodley's death; Hobart, acting as Hare's local agent, completed the design. From 1914 to 1930, the congregation met in the present basement of the nave, now named the Founders Crypt. Among these are a faux-tile mural behind the Chapel of Grace reredos from 1932, the mural in the Chapel of the Nativity's Adoration from 1946 showing the Holy Family with the magi and shepherds. At the donor's request, the original angels hovering above were removed by the artist, however constellations still mark their place. De Rosen also included a little image of his boyhood home in Warsaw in the mural. In 1943, the Nazi occupation government ordered the original doors to be removed from the Florence baptistery, along with other portable artworks, to protect them from bombing and possibly to give Hermann Göring a chance to add them to his collection. They were hidden in a disused railway tunnel until 1944, and latex casts were made after their rediscovery. The replica doors were cast in 1956 from molds of the original doors and were destined for a war memorial, but when financing for the memorial fell through, San Francisco philanthropist Charles D. Field bought these replicas, and they were then shipped to San Francisco and installed on the newly completed church in time for its official dedication in 1964. There is also another labyrinth outside in the courtyard of the cathedral close. Thirty-two windows or window groups, dating from 1930 to 1966, were designed by American Charles Connick and his Boston studio. This includes the Chapel of Grace and baptistery window series that contains over 32,000 pieces of glass and covers nearly . The cathedral also contains 24 faceted windows by Gabriel Loire of Chartres, France, including the Human Endeavor series depicting John Glenn, Thurgood Marshall, Jane Addams, Robert Frost, and Einstein. Between 1995 and 1998, several of the cathedral's choir and aisle windows were restored by Reflection Studios of Emeryville, California. The carillon consists of forty-four bronze bells, cast and tuned at the Gillett & Johnston Foundry of Croydon, England, in 1938. The bells arrived before the cathedral tower was completed, so they spent their first years on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay as the centerpiece of the 1939-40 Golden Gate International Exposition. The carillon was first played from its Singing Tower home on Christmas Eve, 1940, and was formally dedicated in 1943. The bells have been rung to mark a number of important events, including D-Day and the centenary of the San Francisco cable car system. Our Lady of the Flowers by David LaChapelle Chromogenic print. Anonymous gift, 2022 Inspired by the Virgin Mary, this work by the American photographer David LaChapelle celebrates faith and positivity in humanity. LaChapelle grew up during the AIDS epidemic and his early work was deeply influenced by ideas of life, death, and the metaphysical. The model is Haitian-born Guetcha Tondreau. Cathedral School for Boys In 1957, the Cathedral School for Boys was opened in the cathedral's bell towers. It was founded by the then dean, Julian Bartlett, in response to parents seeking an alternative to the other private schools in San Francisco. A permanent building was opened in June 1965, forming part of the cathedral close. Thanks in part to the presence of the school, the cathedral has one of only a handful of remaining Episcopal men and boys cathedral choirs, the Grace Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys; the 24 boys of the choir attend the Cathedral School for Boys, while the 12 men are a professional ensemble. ==In popular culture==

Photographer Ansel Adams produced a series of photographs of the incomplete cathedral in 1935. Jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi composed and recorded a Mass for jazz trio and choir. The performance at the cathedral on May 21, 1965, was released as At Grace Cathedral. The short epilogue of the 1962 film How the West Was Won shows sweeping views of how the West had evolved into its modern self, including an aerial shot of San Francisco that flies directly over Grace Cathedral, showing some of its ongoing construction. ==List of deans==

Grace Cathedral has had nine deans, the chief resident cleric of the cathedral rector of the parish. • J. Wilmer Gresham (1928–1939) • Thomas Wright (1941–1943) • Bernard Lovgren (1946–1951) • C. Julian Bartlett (1956–1975) • Stanley Rodgers (1975–1977) • David Gillespie (1978–1985) • Alan Jones (1985–2009) • Jane Shaw (2010–2014) • Malcolm Clemens Young (2015–present) Dean Alan Jones, who retired in 2009, had also served as the moderator of The Forum at Grace Cathedral. Dean Jane Shaw left Grace Cathedral in September 2014 to become Dean for Religious Life and Professor of Religious Studies at Stanford University. ==Further reading==