OREGON (l/)hat i/ no one rcmcmbcrcrl, , , The Heritage Circle will ensure they do. elp keep history alive by becoming a member of the Heritage Circle. Make a tax-advantaged bequest to the Southern Oregon Historical Society Foundation. To include the Society Foundation in your will, consult your attorney or financial advisor. The description of our organization is: The Southern Oregon Historical Society Foundation, which is an Oregon non-profit tax-exempt corporation located in Jackson County, Oregon. For information on how to become a member of the Heritage Circle please contact Executive Director Brad Linder, (541) 773-6536. tf~~ SOUTHERN 1111 OREGON 1111 HISTORY 1111 CENTER Southern Oregon Historical Society Foundation • 106 N. Central, Medford, OR 97501 Vo1.4, No.I • The Magazine of the Southern Oregon Historical Society • 1998 FEATURES "The Sanctuary Still Sings" 4 by john Howard Pofahl A History of Ashland's Old Pink Church "Restoring Tradition: Hannah Pottery 1 Q Returns to the Rogue Valley" by Shawn Davis "A Mountain Spring in Every Home" by William Alley 14 Cover photo: Colorized photo of Hodges Family out for a fall day of sport. Gold Hill. Circa 1915. See Snapshots p. 34 "Sister Harriet" for more. compiled by J. Richard Collins 16 The Life of Missionary Harriet Diantha Baldwin Cooley "Horace Bromley and the 2 6 DEPARTMENTS Copco Current Events Newsreels" by William Alley 32 COLLECTIONS HIGHLIGHTS WWI Remembered Horace Bromley, Copco's cameraman, got his start in Marketing at Kentner's department store, 34 SNAPSHOTS The Sporting Life 36 FROM THE ARCHIVES Mining Map 38 NEWS AND NOTES Society Facts and Fun 39 IN CLOSING Notes from the Editor Southern Oregon Historical Society Administrative Staff Staff: ogmphers. Board of Trustees Bmd Linder, Erecutive Director Marcia Somers La Fond, Editor Copyright 1998 by Southern Oregon Historical Society. Stuart Allan, Medford Maureen Smith, Finance/Operations Director William Alley, Contributing Editor ISSN #1082-2003. All rights reserved. No part of this Allen Alsing, Ashland Amelia Chamberlain, Pmgrams Director Lou Lyman, Editorial Assistant, val. publication may be printed or electronically duplicated Vernon Arnold. Medford, President Susan Cox-Smith, Membership Comrlinator Dana Hedrick, Photographer without the written permission of the Southern Oregon Cheryl Breeden. Medford Jacque Sundstrand. Librwy!Archives Kathy Pilolla, Communications Director Historical Society. Chuck Eccleston, Medford Coon/ina/or H. Walter Emori, M.D., Jacksonville Southern Oregon Heritage is published quar­ Mary Ames Sheret, Curator of Collections ,Joyce Hailicka, Butte Falls terly by the Southem Oregon Historical Society. and Exhibits Nancy Hamlin, Medford Editorial offices are at the Southern Oregon Carol Harbison-Samuelson. Librar}' Manager/ :Lawson Inada, Ashland Photo Archivist. 'Lana McGraw Boldt. Ashland History Center. 106 N. Central Ave., Medford. Thanks To Graphic Artists: Jonathon Boring. Sherrie Nancy McGrew, Jacksonville, Secretary OR 97501-5926. Back issues of Southern tr.!~ SOUTHERN 'Ann Moore Medford. Second Vice-President Oregon Heritage are available for $5.95 each. Wl1chter. and Daeryl Lewis 1111 OREGON Alice Mullaly, Central Point, Treasurer Southern Oregon Heritaxe is produced using QuarkXPress 1111 HISTORICAL Marjorie Overland, Medford on Macintosh computers and is printed by Ram Offset Lith- .!!!!. SOCIETY (" I .ll.. M~;..,.,....;...,:L· -::.-:.=-~ f A History of Ashland's by John Howard Pofahl "Old Pink Church" rounstsJ. VISit.. Ahls an d, 1t.. 1s more t h an includes decorative features, such as "para­ ' / \,/ lik~ty they have come to experience the pet walls, with battlement details on Oregon Shakespeare Festival's season. towers, poured-in-place buttresses on Most of them are unaware that a mere two foundation walls, and an arched recess for blocks from the Festival's main venues, a primary stained glass window on First they will find a lovely building that houses Street."6 The sanctuary had "one of the a fine dining and theater experience, and first truss roofs in southern Oregon."7 It conceals a rich history of local religious sported sixty-nine stained glass windows politics and preservation efforts. including one dedicated to Reverend The First Baptist Church had been oper­ Hicks, who was " .. agreeably surprised ating in the community since 1877, when by seeing a handsome new window, just In 1877 a council was called to establish " .. a Council of Wagner Creek and Table unveiled, purchased by the congregation as the First Baptist Church in Ashland. Rock was called for the purpose of orga­ a tribute to their pastor."8 Once inside, the Church construction, late 1800s. nizing a Baptist Church in Ashland."! Its congregation could marvel at the wood­ first sanctuary had been a simple wood work that local artisans (many of whom frame building on the comer of Church were church members) had handcrafted. and High streets, pastored by the Reverend Simplicity is a mark of the Mission Albert Hicks. Reverend Hicks was instru­ Revival Style and although this " .. helps mental in building the new church. "Under differentiate it from its more elaborate his leadership new property was purchased successor, the Spanish Colonial Revival, in 1910 in the Enders Addition for the overall effect is one of richness and $1,500.00,"2 and he was responsible for grandeur."9 " ... supervising and doing much of the The community was abuzz on building himself."3 September 3, 1911. That evening, a master It took a great deal of effort from the orator would baptize the congregation in The first baptist church, a simple congregation to get everything just right fiery rhetoric and observe the first Sunday wooden structure, was constructed on the corner of Church and High streets. for the dedication ceremonies and first service. The Reverend Dr. J. Whitcomb Sunday services on September 3, 1911. As Brougher, known throughout the country completion neared, ". members of the for being " .. epigrammatic, witty, and zealous congregation rallied at the church hypnotic in his magnetism . ." would and the men worked from dawn till dusk deliver his lecture, "How to be Happy cleaning up the debris left by workmen and though Married."IO We can assume that his putting the finishing touches on the build­ personal magnetism was quite rousing, ing."4 This building was a showpiece not for by the end of the evening offerings only for the Baptists, but for the entire had been so generous that the First Baptist community. Church found itself " ... unencumbered by As noted in the National Register of any debt as the result of the splendid Historial Places, the building "is an unusual generosity displayed."!! Overall, it had Built in 1911, Rev. Hicks did much of example in Oregon of the Mission Revival been an auspicious beginning for the the construction on the new Mission Style applied to church architecture."5 It new church. Revival church. VoL. 4, No. 1 5 Baptists.ts As the Baptists itself confronted with ideological differ­ reclaimed the sanctity of their ences. The break with the Northern Baptist church, they banished Reverend Convention would be "crystallized when Miller and his congregation. The on November 9, 10, 1948 the Convention unfortunate aftermath of all this refused to seat and recognize the church's contentious in-fighting was that while representatives.l9 The First Baptist Church in control of the church, Reverend would now align itself with the Conserva­ Miller's group lost or destroyed most of tive Baptist Association. This would result the church records and legal documents in a rise in church membership that would In pertaining to the previous fifteen years. continue until 1955. Sunday services, the years And the bitterness and strife did not end broadcast on the radio between 1947 and that followed, there. Reverend Miller's congregation 1954, contributed significantly to the rise membership grew and the First Baptist "invaded the local Spiritualist Church and in membership.20 Church assumed an even greater role in the succeeded in causing a split there as The 1960s saw the church fall into religious community. In 1922 a rupture well."l6 When the ousted Baptists settled disrepair. Having made the fateful deci­ developed in the Baptist congregation back into their church it was with a pervad­ sion to leave its sanctuary, the congrega­ creating great dissension. The Reverend B. ing "sense that purification and edification tion moved to its new location on Siskiyou C. Miller "pastored the church from June, resulted to form a stronger, more united Boulevard in 1970. Briefly, the building 1922 to January 1, 1925, and was the most church with more definite and discerning was occupied by two Pentecost denomina­ prominent and influential figure in creating by-laws to safeguard and govern the group." tions. For fifty-nine years the building at the split."l2 From all accounts this was a Between 1925 and 1949, newspaper Hargadine and First streets had been a vety divisive battle for the congregation accounts reveal only church socials and sanctuary for the faithful. Now it would be and Reverend Miller, who "turned from Christmas pageants. After the breach of the abandoned, relegated to no more than a Baptist Doctrine to the Aimee McPherson early 1920s, the First Baptist Church storage facility for private owners who persuasion emphasizing healing and entered a quiet period, remaining above lacked the personal vision and ingenuity so emotional hysteria."l3 Aimee Semple controversy as its membership grew. But