The Choir School building, which cost nearly $180,000, is the gift of Mrs. J. Jarrett Blodgett in memory of her father Mr. John Hinman Sherwood. At Eastertide, 1914, the late Commodore Frederick G. Bourne, who had sung as a boy in Trinity Church and in later years in the Church of the Incarnation, endowed the school with $500,000; and by his will, probated March 15, 1919, gave $100,000 to the Cathedral toward the building of the Nave and about the same amount to the Choir School endowment. Members of the Diocesan Auxiliary to the Cathedral contributed generously toward the furnishing of the school. A tablet in the porch reads:
“In Faithful Memory of ‖ John Hinman Sherwood ‖ Just Upright True ‖ Erected by his daughter ‖ 1912.”
St. Faith’s House
St. Faith’s House ([D. on plan]) is the home of the New York Training School for Deaconesses, an independent corporation which was founded in 1890 by the late Rev. William Reed Huntington, D.D., and which occupies a site in the Cathedral Close by permission of the Trustees of the Cathedral. The building of Indiana limestone and brick is in Tudor Gothic architecture, and measures 68 by 137 feet on the outside. It is the gift of Archdeacon Charles C. Tiffany in memory of his wife. The architects were Messrs. Heins & LaFarge.
The Synod House
The Synod House, ([E. on plan]), standing in the southwestern angle of the Close on the corner of Cathedral parkway and Amsterdam avenue, is the meeting place of the Diocesan Convention and other secular gatherings of the Diocese. It also contains the Bishop’s office and the offices of the Suffragan Bishops, the Rt. Rev. Arthur Selden Lloyd, D.D., and the Rt. Rev. Herbert Shipman, D.D. It is of Kingwood. W. Va., sandstone with pink tinges, quite unlike any other stone in the Cathedral group. The Architecture is pure French Gothic of the 13th century, Messrs. Cram & Ferguson being the architects. Its outside dimensions are 73 by 171 feet. The Western Entrance is a fine example of a mediaeval recessed porch in its architecture and an interesting illustration of the progress of Civilization and Christianity in its sculptures. It contains 43 figures in the round and a relief of 12 figures in the tympanum. The key-note to the composition is the relief in the Tympanum representing Christ sending out his Disciples to baptize and teach all the nations of the world. Beneath this is the inscription:
“All power is given unto me in heaven and earth ‖ Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing ‖ them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and ‖ of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all ‖ things whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo ‖ I am with you always even unto the end of the world” (Mat. xxviii. 18-20).
THE SYNOD HOUSE