I found this picture of Central Congregational Church online. The file name says 1940s, and the car parked beside the church supports the dating. During the war, my mother lived just to the right on Seaverns avenue. When my parents got married, they moved in to an apartment just two doors down. My mother was a member of Central Congregational, a singer in the choir, and a regular at church picnics and functions.
During those years, the late Daniel Pinkham came to spend some time as the organist and music director. For those who don't know, Dan Pinkham went on to teach at the New England Conservatory and become a world-famous organ soloist and composer. If you've listened to classical music on public radio in Boston for any length of time, you've heard Dan Pinkham featured at one time or another.
I did a Google search for Dan and came up with 13,800 hits. When I added "Central Congregational" to the search, it went down to 9 hits, only one of which was relevant. Apparently, the only people who know that Dan worked at Central Congregational are at the church itself - it was their web site that mentioned Dan. The official Daniel Pinkham web site, danielpinkham.net, does not mention Central Congregational in its biography section. I suspect that the hoity-toity of Boston classical music just aren't interested in a little church in Jamaica Plain. At least one person still remembers and appreciates the work Dan did at Central Congregational.
I don't have a direct memory of this, which was some 20 years before I was born, but my Grandfather, Rev. Douglas MacIntosh, was the minister at Central Congregational at the time. I remember my mother talking about Daniel Pinkham having been the organist at the church when she was a child. My father's family attended Central Congregational for many decades starting in the 1930's, extending to the time of my paternal grandfather's death in the early 2000's.
ReplyDeleteI was a kid at Central Congregational Church in JP when your grandfather was a preacher. I was friends with all his children. I don’t know which child was your parent. I was in the Junior choir which Dan Pinkham led & I remember him as the organist. His position was taken over by Rev. Robert Wood who was also the Assistant Minister when your grandfather became ill. Good memories of the Church & congregation at this time.
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