It happened here

Fire on the mountain
The blaze that recently ripped through the Pilgrim Baptist Church in Bronzeville resulted in an immense loss not just for the congregation, but the city as a whole. The 19th-century Romanesque Revival, with its ornamental detail and stained-glass windows, was a prized landmark, but the real tragedy was the loss of a spiritual center of the African-American experience. Designed by Louis H. Sullivan, and built as Kehilath Anshe Ma' ariv synagogue in 1891, the building at 33rd Street and Indiana Avenue housed the church since 1922. During the 1930s, longtime choir director Thomas Dorsey ("The Father of Gospel Music") along with the congregation helped develop the unique American gospel sound—a combination of jazz, blues and religious lyrics that grew out of the desolate climate of the Depression. Performers that sang there included Mahalia Jackson, Sallie Martin and Edwin Hawkins Singers. Torches that repair crews used to repair the roof reportedly caused the blaze. Church officials say they plan to rebuild.—Leah Pietrusiak