The church was nominated by Philadelphia-based historian Celeste Morello.
In a surprise move, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia did not oppose the nomination of Our Lady Help of Christians Church to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places at the Philadelphia Historical Commission meeting on Oct. 12. The church was nominated by Philadelphia-based historian Celeste Morello and has since been officially added to the list as of the meeting. The Archdiocese has a history of opposing historical nominations of its churches.
When Morello visited the church for the first time, she asked locals walking by what the church meant to them.
“People’s faces would light up,” she said. “It’s more than a fixture to them. They have an emotional tie to this building, and it’s because of its ornate appearance. It’s very attractive, but it does convey a very welcoming message, too.”
Morello said she was encouraged to nominate the church by members from PROPAC, including Patty-Pat Kozlowski and Ken Paul.
“All she kept telling me was how much the property meant to them,” Morello said.
According to minutes from the October meeting, the archdiocese’s lawyer, Michael Phillips, said the archdiocese did not oppose the nomination. Phillips could not be reached for comment for an explanation, but according to the minutes, the church’s support of the nomination “should not be considered a blanket non-opposition and that their positions on designations are case by case.”
Ken Gavin, chief communications officer for the Archdiocese, provided the following statement to the Star: “The Archdiocese and parish neither supported nor opposed the nomination to the Historic Registry; we took no position on this matter.”
However, Gavin wouldn’t expand on why the archdiocese decided against opposing this particular nomination, unlike previous nominations.
Of the 10 criteria acceptable for nominating historic buildings and objects to the list (the full list is available on phila.gov/historical), Morello chose the first (criteria A), which designates that a building “has significant character, interest or value as part of the development, heritage or cultural characteristics of the City, Commonwealth or Nation or is associated with the life of a person significant in the past”’ as well as the fifth (criteria E), which reads “is the work of a designer, architect, landscape architect or designer, or engineer whose work has significantly influenced the historical, architectural, economic, social, or cultural development of the City, Commonwealth or Nation.”
That designer was architect Albert Wolfring Leh, an American of German descent. In this case, the designer is important because it wasn’t Edwin F. Durang — the man who typically designed churches for the archdiocese. As far as Morello can tell, it’s the only building Leh ever designed in Philadelphia. Most of his work can be found in the Bethlehem/Lehigh Valley region of the state.
Interestingly, the church was constructed largely as a result of the “German problem,” which, according to Morello, was when many American Germans were upset that other Germans didn’t hold higher positions within the Catholic Church. Many Germans in this area of Port Richmond at the time left their churches to build this one. On top of that, many Germans across the country (but particularly in the Midwest more so than the Northeast) refused to assimilate to America and refused to learn the English language, according to Morello.
“They had a valid reason,” Morello said. “Their numbers were there.”
At the meeting, members of the commission suggested two more criteria be included as reasoning for the church’s designation. They were criteria H, which reads “owing to its unique location or singular physical characteristic, represents an established and familiar visual feature of the neighborhood, community or City”; and criteria J, which reads “exemplifies the cultural, political, economic, social or historical heritage of the community.”
The church is considered a “familiar visual feature of the neighborhood” because it lies on Allegheny Avenue, along with two other aesthetically pleasing churches, one of which is Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was added to the register of historic places last year, and was also nominated by Morello. The third church, which is yet to be nominated, is St. Adalbert Roman Catholic Church. Morello said she currently has no plans to nominate St. Adalbert anytime soon.
