Black History Month—26 Mar 2023

Our task this month is to unlearn a long practice of forgetting. This practice started with the families who listed these names and numbers in their wills alongside livestock and furniture, forgetting their humanity in order to enslave them. It continued as our congregation left out the memories and stories of these people from our church’s history over the decades and centuries that followed. This month, we turn away from this practice of forgetting. We remember that each name and number on these tiles represents a full, complex human life—someone with a sense of humor, an appreciation for beauty, a spiritual life, griefs and fears and joys. We remember that they were more than names or numbers; they were people beloved by God, fearfully and wonderfully made, as much a part of the history and legacy of this church as we are.

This three window ensemble holds together artistically even with its multiple designers and studios. 

The first window represents Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son, and was designed by Otto Heinigke, who designed the triptych windows across the sanctuary.  Here, the wandering son has returned to his father as fully repentant and to offer himself as a slave, after wasting his own resources.  Instead, the father welcomes him back with love and forgiveness. The prodigal son could be seen as a model for the white church, which is being called to humbly repent for the sins of slavery and racism, with the promise of forgiveness from God. This window was donated by the Suydam family, an old Dutch family who came to America in 1663, and then to Brooklyn in the late 1700’s. The family had 74 slaves at various times.

The second window is called The Parable of the Talents, and is attributed to the Tiffany studios. The scene depicts the moment in the parable when two of the servants report their profit to their master.  The inscription in the lower part of the window reads, “His Lord said unto him, well done, thou good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of the Lord.” This can be interpreted to represent God’s promise to enslaved people, and God’s love for them. The window is given in memory of Jacques Cortelyou, of an old  Dutch family with French Huguenot origins who arrived in Brooklyn in 1652. The Cortelyou and Fowler family had at least 104 slaves at different times.

The third window is called The Empty Tomb, and was given by the Spence/Leech family in memory of Margaret T. Spence. The window may be an early William Willet glass made by the Heuser and Hausleiter studio. The family were first and second generation in this country, and of Scottish and English origins–—they were not slaveholders. The window depicts the women’s discovery of the empty tomb and the angel, after Christ has risen, a story that is also told in the painting over the chancel.

—— Lindsay Gavin

The Remembrance and Racial Justice Working Group has been researching our church’s historical connections to slavery and racial injustice. This month, we are hanging tiles with the names—or numbers in the cases where names were not recorded—of people who were enslaved by the families who donated our stained glass windows. On each tile is a QR code where you can read stories of these people—and the stories are also reproduced on posters in Fellowship Hall.