Grace Lutheran Church Photograph Collection, ca. 1900-1993

Held by The Filson Historical Society

Creator: Grace Lutheran Church

Title: Photograph Collection, ca. 1900-1993

Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for these photographs, contact the Collections Department.

Size of Collection: 1 cubic foot

Location Number:  010PC29

Scope and Content Note

One box of photographs relating to the Grace Lutheran Church in Louisville, Kentucky. Photographs include interior and exterior shots of the church [010PC29.1-.22], building and construction of the new church [010PC29.23-.41 and .405-.462], portraits and candid shots of church members [010PC29.167-.235], a map of Louisville highlighting Lutheran churches [010PC29.42], pastors and their families [010PC29.239-.253], and social gatherings of the church, including parties, meetings, holidays, and Vacation Bible School.

Related collections

Grace Lutheran Church, 1891-ca. 1990. Architectural drawings, 1938, 1988, 1990, n.d. 20 sheets. [Mss. AR G]

 

Historical Note

Grace English Lutheran Church organized as a Sunday School on October 13, 1889, by Reverend Harlan K. Fenner and members of the Second Lutheran Church. The congregation was organized with fourteen charter members. Construction on the church began in the west end of Louisville on 26th and Bank Streets. Reverend Charles F. Steck settled as the first pastor on January 1, 1892. By 1924, the church had grown so much that a secondary educational building was added. By 1926, the original church building was condemned, and the congregation continued meeting in the recently added educational building for the following twelve years.

In 1938, a new church building was designed by E. T. Hutchings at 452 N. 26th Street. The Board of American Missions designated Grace Lutheran Church as an official “urban church.” The Church building design was revised by Grossman, Chapman, Kinglsey Architects Inc. in the 1980s-1990s. The church building still exists at 26th and Bank as of 2024 but is non-operational.

 

Folder List

Folder 1: Interior and exterior church shots

Folder 2: Groundbreaking and construction of new church, 1938-1939

Folder 3: Map of Louisville’s Lutheran churches

Folder 4: Church events and gatherings, part 1

Includes photographs of various church events and gatherings, including Ladies Auxiliary, children’s pageants, plays, classes, and choirs, meetings, Christmas and Halloween parties, Sunday School, and Vacation Bible School.

Folder 5: Church events and gatherings, part 2

Folder 6: Church members

Portraits and candid shots of church members.

Folder 7: Weddings and baptisms

Folder 8: Pastors

Includes photographs of pastors and their families.

Folder 9: Church social gatherings

Folder 10: Miscellaneous unidentified photographs

Folder 11: Miscellaneous unidentified film negatives

Folder 12: Church groundbreaking and celebration

Folder 13: “The First 100 Years”

Color slides from possibly a program about the first 100 years of the Church. Includes copies of photographs from the 1920s-1980s.