July 5th, 2025, marks one hundred years since the groundbreaking for Christ Church Cranbrook. As we mark this milestone in Cranbrook’s history, I believe it is important to reflect on George Gough Booth’s long discernment of this generous gift to the community.
From the beginning, there were always places of worship at Cranbrook. The story that leads us through these spaces to the establishment of Christ Church Cranbrook is especially meaningful to me.
Rev. Dr. S. S. Marquis, D.D. with the first spade of earth, July 5, 1925. Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research.
After George and Ellen Booth purchased ‘The Farm’ in January 1904, his father, Henry Wood Booth, was the first family member to live on the country estate. The elder Booth stayed for the month of May with Frank Brose, the farmer, and his family. On May 15, 1904, the first worship service at Cranbrook took place under a tent, on the site upon which the Altar of Atonement now sits, with Henry as lay preacher. He continued in this ministry, also offering Sunday School, at the same spot until 1909. This was the first act of service offered to the Bloomfield Hills community at Cranbrook.
Letter from George Gough Booth to Henry Wood Booth, August 24, 1918. Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research.
In 1914, George and Ellen considered building a chapel at the site on which the Kingswood flagpole now sits, but the project was rejected, most likely due to the outbreak of World War I. As the war ended, a permanent place of worship and Sunday School was established with the building of the Meeting House.
The letter, above, preserves the dignity with which George writes of the Meeting House “building enterprise” to honor and give freedom to his father’s calling to share the Christ message with the non-church goers in the district. From this letter, we can learn and understand why George built the Meeting House for worship and Bible study through his father’s ministry.
Decoration of the Meeting House by Katherine McEwen, 1918. Laura MacNewman, photographer.
In the letter from George to his father, we also learn that he is prudent in observing the religious character of Bloomfield residents. During the years in which the Meeting House was used for religious services (1918-1926), Mr. Booth would reflect on the visiting clergy and service attendees (both of which came from diverse denominations), from which he would eventually discern the denomination of “Cranbrook church.”
Each May, the Center is honored to host outstanding seniors from Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School for a three-week immersive internship.
Kamilah Moore and Joel Kwiatkowski, 2025 Senior May interns, visit George and Ellen Booth at Greenwood Cemetery, Birmingham. Photography by Leslie Mio.
This year two seniors, Kamilah Moore and Joel Kwiatkowski, worked with the Center and Archives staff, including writing blogs! Hear from Joel today and look out for Kamilah’s post next week.
Checking in on the Eliel Saarinen-designed Kingswood main gate at Smith Shop in Highland Park, May 2025. Photography by Kevin Adkisson.
Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research is a name that invokes the image of some grand museum or hall, with many sterile prep rooms and rows upon rows of file cabinets. Now don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of file cabinets, but the Annex is far from grand. Instead, the rather humble staff apartment-turned-offices are befitting the lovely people there.
The Center’s Annex, next door to Cranbrook House, is situated above the House & Garden Auxiliary offices, up a set of winding stairs that require me to duck in a few places. But up there you will find a quaint little kitchen (complete with a toaster oven and healthy snack collection), a few offices, and closets and cabinets dotted with curiosities.
The quaint kitchenette of the Annex, compete with decommissioned Cranbrook Institute of Science Library chairs, May 2025. Photography by the Author.
It was this atmosphere, over many chatty lunches, that I got to know Leslie Mio, the Associate Registrar, and Mariam Hale, the 2023-2025 Center Collections Fellow. It was a pleasure to find two individuals who cared so greatly for history and conservation, and we bonded over our shared love of museums and particular historical eras.
But, let it be known that work at the collections isn’t all comfortable work behind a desk or searching a filing cabinet. This illusion, if I ever had it, was quickly broken on my first full day of the internship. Our task? Moving five solid wood cabinets from the rooms of retirement-age nuns across the building to be used to store Cranbrook’s lacy dresses and costumes.
Briarbank, a neighboring estate to Booth’s land, was converted into a place for sisters to stay once they needed a bit more care later in life. But, at some point, the demand for a place such as that ran dry, and Cranbrook bought the campus. And now, in that spirit, I was near horizontal in my penny loafers, shoving a giant wardrobe into place across some very tasteful carpet.
Mariam and I defy the friction of decades old carpet, May 2025. Photography by Leslie Mio.
In the coming days, the purpose of these heavy cabinets would be realized, as we began the true overarching theme of my time at the Center: moving a seemingly infinite number of objects from the hot attic of Cranbrook House to the comparatively “less hot” and climate-controlled storage area at Briarbank. Paintings, prints, textiles, rugs, hats, and racks of clothing and costumes were deftly maneuvered through the halls and offices of Cranbrook House (or, alternatively, very carefully down the narrowest, steepest, stairwell known to mankind).
Each day packing and moving Cultural Properties in the attic was sure to bring new surprises. Everything from a fur hat belonging to George Booth to paper parasols, or entire handwoven rugs the size of a small house. While these days meant a bit of manual labor, they never ceased to bring me joy, as the wonderful folk of the Center doled out tidbits of Cranbrook’s story connected to each unearthed gem.
The fabulous hat in a box marked “G.G.B.” — the box is possibly a later acquisition by Henry S. Booth — May 2025. Photography by the Author.
Now those familiar with the Center may be wondering: “Now wait just a minute. Where is my favorite curator? Where is the delightful presence of the steward of Saarinen House?” Well, fear not good reader, for while Kevin may not have been at every boxing and unboxing, Kevin joined Kamilah and me on many excursions outside the Samuel-Yellin-forged gates of Cranbrook. For those unacquainted, Kevin Adkisson is Curator of the Center, the veritable fountain of all knowledge concerning Cranbrook, and legend in his own time among students.
My first trip with Kevin came when we were tasked with heading to Detroit to give a tour of Holy Redeemer Church to a group of 8th graders from the Catholic school next door. I thought that getting middle schoolers excited about Corinthian columns would be impossible, but Kevin’s energy and skill made it look easy.
Kevin and I had fun teaching Holy Redeemer 8th graders about architecture. Photography by Holy Redeemer.
Afterword, we headed to visit the master ironworkers at Smith Shop, where the Eliel Saarinen-designed Kingswood main gate is being repaired and restored. I stood back and observed while Kevin, Cranbrook Capital Projects Director Jean-Claude Azar, and Amy Weiks and Gabriel Craig (co-owners of Smith Shop) debated the ins and outs of the gate’s making and breaking.
I enjoy a tour of the facilities of Smith Shop with Cranbrook Capital Projects Director Jean-Claude Azar and Smith Shop co-owner Gabriel Craig in Highland Park, May 2025. Photography by Kevin Adkisson.
Across my three week Senior May, I also took trips to the paint store to debate shades of grey, the frame shop to mount an object, Ken Katz’s painting conservation studio, and even Birmingham’s historic cemetery. On each of these trips, I gained insight into the multifaceted work of the Center for Collections and Research, including care and handling, teaching, conservation, and cataloging.
I cannot fully capture in a blog what a delight it was to be in the presence of such knowledgeable individuals. For every question about Cranbrook’s history, each member of staff was sure to add in their own expertise, citing obscure letters and photographs, adding a beautiful familiarity to their responses and giving color to the story of Cranbrook.
Of course, I would be remiss to leave out some of the other folks who make the Center function, like Greg, Jody, Amy, and Jess. These are the people who drive the work, managing, fundraising, and promoting the vision of Collections and ensuring the continued progress of the Center’s goals.
Even interns have meetings, Kamilah and I sat in on one of the Center’s weekly staff meetings. Photography by Kevin Adkisson.
On my last day, I had the privilege of working with Jess Webster, Development Coordinator, who also helps run the Center’s social media. With Kamilah, I researched, drafted, workshopped, and delivered a script for an Instagram Reel commemorating the 150th birthday of Carl Milles., During my time working out ideas for the video (and even this blog), I gained a new appreciation for the way in which Cranbrook is viewed from the outside.
Kamilah and I workshopping our reel for Carl Milles’s 150th birthday with Jess, May 2025. Photography by Leslie Mio.
For me, as a student at Cranbrook, my view is that of someone on the inside, who has the privilege to walk by art on campus each and every day (admittedly at times without a second thought). But getting to see the behind-the-scenes of Cranbrook’s beautiful historic campus has given me an appreciation that feels wholly unique amongst my peers.
If you’ve read this blog, I urge you to take a moment to appreciate all that goes on caring for a 100-plus-year-old campus to live on to this day and serve its many students and visitors. From calls, texts, emails, and meetings, the Center is busy planning, filing, caring, and protecting the legacy of Cranbrook. The work is never done.
Yet despite the challenges, the Center rises to the task, willing to give their all to something they passionately care for. It would be hard not to be inspired.
Kamilah and I make a video for Carl Milles’s 150th birthday, May 2025. Photography by Jessica Webster.
This internship has truly been a dream-come-true, and I am grateful to Mariam, Leslie, and Kevin for their warm welcome and tutelage.
– Joel Kwiatkowski, Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School Class of 2025 and Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research 2025 Senior May
Editor’s Note: The Senior May Project is a school-sponsored activity that encourages Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School seniors to acquire work experience in a field they are considering as a college major, a potential profession, and/or as a personal interest.
Joel Kwiatkowski graduated from Cranbrook in June 2025 and will be attending the University of California San Diego in the fall to pursue a degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology. Joel first came to Cranbrook Schools in sixth grade, and has since gained a passion for the institution’s rich history of influential artists and personalities.
Some years ago, former Cranbrook Archivist, Robbie Terman, posted a short blog post on one of the Titanic’s sister ships, RMS Olympic. In recent years, Cranbrook Archives has responded to numerous requests for images of the Olympic which are preserved in the first volume of Harry Scripps Booth’s Pleasures of Life albums.
View of RMS Olympic before its first eastward crossing, June 28, 1911. [POL1.14.5]. Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research.
On June 28, 1911, the Booth family took the first eastward crossing of RMS Olympic from New York to Southampton, England. The family at that time was George and Ellen Booth; James Scripps and Jean McLaughlin Booth who had married the previous year; Grace, Warren, Henry, and Florence. They were joined by their Grand Rapids cousin, Esther Booth.
As I come from a maritime nation, these requests are particularly intriguing to me. I have wondered what other archives we have at Cranbrook to tell the story of transatlantic crossing and explain some of the images. George Gough Booth kept a record of the expenses in planning for the trip. These records tell us that he booked the steamship tickets with the Christian Leidich Travel Bureau in Detroit and he purchased Motor Union badges for himself and James.
James Scripps Booth and George Gough Booth on the RMS Olympic, July 1911.[POL1.10.2] Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research.
As Henry recalls in his memoir after listing the family members who sailed,
“That wasn’t enough. Parks, the chauffeur, went; also The Pierce-Arrow, a 7-passenger touring car, and a Lozier Briarcliff, which accommodated four plus one in an airy seat on the left running board, designed for the chauffeur when the “master” took the wheel. That seat was a thrill for the young at heart.”
Then I came upon something quite wonderful—Henry’s journal of the sea crossing! He began the trip when he was just 14 years old, celebrating his 15th birthday in August during the vacation. As I read the entries, the images in the Pleasures of Life came alive. Here follows some moments from the journey in Henry’s words.
“Stayed at the Plaza. Esther’s trunk was lost. We found it later. On June 28, we went abord [sic] the great ship, “Olympic.” Henry Scripps Booth, June 27, 1911
Leaving New York, June 28, 1911. Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research.
“On June 28, we went abord [sic] the great ship, “Olympic”. The Olympic is a fine ship. Florence was sick first night and day. It was somewhat rough on June 29th. I met a new friend but did not remember his name. In the morning, I could hardly stand, because of the new sensation. I was somewhat sick, but ate lots and I felt fine.” Henry Scripps Booth, June 28, 1911
“On June 30th the Campania was in view. I got acquainted with two girls, Constance Peabody and Katherine somebody.” Henry Scripps Booth, June 30th, 1911
A race aboard the RMS Olympic on its first eastward crossing from New York to Southampton, July 1911. [POL1.11.4]. Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research.
“July 1st, 1911, was a bright sunny day, and the ocean was as smooth as glass. In the evening, there was a dance on the right hand deck. In the morning and in the afternoon too, the second-class people had races, and did all sorts of stunts. We saw another ship to the left. I played shuffleboard for the first time that day. On July 2nd, which was Sunday, we went to church in the dining room. We also saw another ship [July 3] which was eastwerd [sic] bound being a freight ship.” Henry Scripps Booth, July 1, 1911
A race aboard the RMS Olympic on its first eastward crossing from New York to Southampton, July 1911. [POL1.12.5]. Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research.
“Tomorrow That day, I made my entrys [sic] into the Potato and Boot Races which were to be the next day with other stunts. We saw some fish, at least a yard and a half in length.
On July 3, 1911, at 10 o’clock the games began. The first race, which I was to be in, was the Potato Race. I came in third. I was also to be in the Boot Race but by a mistake, I came in last.
After other races came the Standing Broad Jump in which James sliped [sic].” Henry Scripps Booth, July 3, 1911
Warren Scripps Booth during a Spar Pillow Fight aboard the Steamship RMS Olympic, July 1911. [POL1.12.4]. Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research.
“James and Warren were both in the Spar Pillow Fight. In Warren’s case both fell off the bar at first but Warren was nocked [sic] off a second time. Warren did not win. James stayed on a number of times but was forced to give up. After dinner in the Reception Room the prizes were awarded. Also a dance on deck was given.” Henry Scripps Booth, July 3, 1911
Disembarking the RMS Olympic, July 5, 1911. [POL1.14.1]. Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research.
“Breakfast was served in the usual manner. After breakfast in the hall on the Sun Deck the band played the national cirs. Every body stood up. In the afternoon, at 4 o’clock we entered Plymouth Harbor. The mailtender got the mail and other boats got passengers off to land. We then started across the channel.” Henry Scripps Booth, July 4, 1911
“After getting off the steamer and having the officers make sure that we had no cigars or liquors with us, we took a cab to the hotel.” Henry Scripps Booth, July 5, 1911
Unloading the cars in France, August 1911. Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research.
As always, it is a great delight to share with scholars, colleagues, and those who are simply curious, these stories from the Archives. What is preserved in Cranbrook Archives help us to understand and enjoy not just Cranbrook, but any number of historic events from new perspectives.
There are more stories to tell about the family’s sojourn through England and France in 1911, which are both heartwarming and educational. But those tales must wait for another blog post–or for you to schedule a visit and come into the Archives Reading Room!
— Laura MacNewman, Associate Archivist, Cranbrook Archives, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research
In recent years, new residential development along the small strip of Cranbrook Road between Lone Pine Road and Woodward Avenue has given Cranbrook a few new neighbors. One of Cranbrook’s first neighbors on the street, however, dates back one hundred years!
As George and Ellen Booth began developing their country estate in the mid-1920s into what we know today as Cranbrook Educational Community, a new house was completed just north of what would soon become Kingswood School for Girls.
Picture of Stonelea from an ad in Afterglow: A Country Life Magazine, August-September 1925.
Ralph Stone, president of the Detroit Trust Company, with which George Booth did business, purchased this land around 1923. He quickly commissioned Albert Kahn to design a country residence for the site, which Stone named “Stonelea.” This was just a few years after Kahn had completed additions to Cranbrook House.
Residence for Mr. Ralph Stone. Albert Kahn Architect. November 17, 1923. Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives.
The close neighbors shared some correspondence regarding their properties that provides a glimpse of both men’s personalities, and highlights their shared affability and elegance of prose. Their letters, part of the George Gough Booth Papers, begin a year before Ralph Stone and his wife Mary would finalize construction of their home in 1925. It seems they could not wait to spend a summer of leisure in Bloomfield Hills, away from the hustle and bustle of Detroit. The Stones sought to rent the Booth’s Brookside Cottage–an impossibility due to occupancy by Booth family members.
But perhaps the most interesting exchange takes place in 1926 when Ralph writes regarding the shocking lack of water needed to preserve his lawn and garden in a green state in the middle of July (not a problem in 2024!). He proposes to pump water from Cranbrook, but George’s reply a week later masterfully circumnavigates the issue:
Opening lines of the George Booth letter, August 2, 1926. Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives.
In Ralph’s reply he acquiesces with good humor:
Second paragraph of the Ralph Stone letter, August 3, 1926. Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives.
The sentiments expressed in these letters appear genuine as their families remained on neighborly terms. George and Ellen were occasional guests at Stonelea for dinner parties until the Stones sold their property in 1931.
In fact, Ralph Stone proved to be much more than just a friendly neighbor of George Booth, continuing his connection to Cranbrook long after he had moved from the area. He was an early and steadfast supporter of Cranbrook, serving on various boards for over twenty-five years as a Cranbrook School Trustee (1928-1951), Kingswood School Trustee (1930-1951), Brookside School Trustee (1945-1951), Academy of Art Trustee (1941-1946), and Foundation Trustee (1940-1952).
George Gough Booth and Ralph Stone attend the 80th birthday party of Ellen Scripps Booth at Cranbrook House, 1943. Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives.
Today, Stonelea is no longer just a neighbor: the property was acquired by Cranbrook Educational Community in 2003. In the coming years, Stonelea will become the future home of Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research!
While researching the step-backed Peacock Andirons at Saarinen House last spring, I enthusiastically mustered a muster of peacocks from across Cranbrook’s campus with the generous help of my colleagues.
“Muster” is the official label for a group of peacocks.
Unlike a gaggle of geese, a muster of peacocks lacks both onomatopoeia and alliteration and implies a level of formality and regimental order in direct conflict with the species’ behavior! That is…judging by the peacocks I’ve witnessed at historic homes and castles throughout Europe, including a visit to Scone Castle in Scotland where an earlier visitor captured these free-spirited troops. Whether iridescent blue or albino, their graceful necks and distinctive crests rise to magnificence when tail feathers are splayed to attract a peahen mate or intimidate predators.
Throughout the ages, blue aka Indian peafowl have symbolized beauty and prosperity and served as sources of artistic inspiration. A favored theme at Cranbrook, the peacock’s dramatic curvilinear lines are represented at each institution across the campus.
One can discover…
WORKS IN METAL:
• The famed Peacock Gates designed by Finnish-American architect Eliel Saarinen and fabricated in wrought and cast iron by Oscar Bruno Bach, 1927, marking the former Lone Pine Road entrance to Cranbrook School for Boys:
Peacock Gates at Cranbrook School circa 1980. Jeffrey Welch, photographer. Courtesy Cranbrook Archives.
Details of the peacocks in cast iron:
Detail of Cranbrook School Peacock Gate, circa 1935. Courtesy Cranbrook Archives.
Detail of Cranbrook School Peacock Gate, circa 1935. Courtesy Cranbrook Archives.
Detail of Cranbrook School Peacock Gate, 2001. Balthazar Korab, photographer. Copyright Balthazar Korab | Cranbrook Archives.
• Eliel Saarinen’s cast bronze Peacock Andirons, 1928-29, on view at Saarinen House. Collection of Cranbrook Art Museum. Produced by Sterling Bronze Company, New York, between 1928 and 1929, these cast bronze andirons were paid for by the Cranbrook Foundation and entered in the 1928-1930 Arts & Crafts Building ledger on pages 40-41—Date: 1-7-30; No.: 515; Name: Sterling Bronze Co; Remarks: 1 pair/ Andirons for Saarinen Res[idence]; Amount: $152.50 (the equivalent of $2,704 in 2024):
Robert Hensleigh, photographer. Courtesy Cranbrook Art Museum.
In addition to working as an Associate Archivist at Cranbrook, I am also a fledgling volunteer docent at Christ Church Cranbrook. Recently, I gave a tour of the Chancel to test my skills with my teachers. As I prepared, I found there was very little written about the history of the pipe organ at the church. So, where to turn for more information? Cranbrook Archives, of course.
In August of 1925, George Booth and Oscar Murray (of Bertram G. Goodhue Associates, the church architect), started in earnest to finalize their thoughts and feelings about the choice of organ for the church. While the organ itself was installed in January 1928, plans for its ducts and conduits had to be decided early, before the concrete floors were poured.
Christ Church Cranbrook organ pipes prior to the 1997 restoration. Jack Kausch, photographer. Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives.
The correspondence suggests that the E.M. Skinner Organ Company was the only company considered. The Boston-based firm was considered America’s finest and most technologically advanced organ builder. Skinner’s specifications for the organ, console, and bench were submitted in October 1925.
George Booth inquired of his colleague Cyril Player to provide comments on the specifications, and Player begins his commentary saying,
“I think I would emphasize gently to them that you want gravity, dignity and softness—the three prime essentials of any church organ, large or small… [gravity] is secured by an adequate and properly-balanced pedal department; dignity by volume of foundation tone in the basic divisions of the instrument; and softness and refinement by skillful voicing with a copious wind stream at a moderate pressure.”
Cyril Player to George G. Booth, November 1925
In passing along the comments to Murray, Booth remarks that, “the desired qualities, viz; gravity, dignity and softness; seems to me peculiarly to express my own feelings and desire.”
Skinner Organ Company Specifications for Christ Church Cranbrook Organ, October 1925. Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives.
William Zeuch of Skinner Organ Company revised the specifications following some of Player’s suggestions, while some revisions were the suggestion of Henry Willis, the great English organ builder who was a consultant to the firm. The contract for the organ (including the Great, Swell, Choir, and Pedal pipe divisions) was duly signed in December 1925 and work proceeded.
At the same time, a separate contract was made with Alfred Floegel to decorate the organ case doors. Booth wished to confine the oak finish to the exterior of the doors while having the rest richly decorated with color. Booth imagined the opening of the organ doors to represent the opening of the mind. He also envisioned the organ case to read as a triptych (a picture or altarpiece on three hinged panels) when open.
Organ case doors, woodwork by Irving and Casson, decoration by Alfred Floegel. Gift of James Scripps Booth. Laura MacNewman, photographer.
In July 1927, work on the organ console began. The console is where the organist sits to play the instrument, distinguished by its multiple hand keyboards (called manuals), pedalboard, and other controls. Rev. Dr. Marquis requested a change from a 3-manual (Great, Swell, and Choir pipe divisions) to a 4-manual, by adding the Solo division. Zeuch responded positively as it was not too late to build a 4-manual console; however, having already instructed the architect to reduce the dimensions of the organ chamber, which had been too large and would have interfered with the proper effect of the sound in the church, the architect would now need to find space for the Solo division. Room was found above the Sacristy.
The Center has made a new film! As part of our recent gala fundraiser, A House Party at Two Cranbrooks, we worked with Elkhorn Entertainment & Media to produce a short documentary about the Booth family’s connections between England and Michigan. Today, we are excited to share the film with the wider world! Watch the film below, or here.
A Tale of Two Cranbrooks
Now that you’ve seen the new documentary, I thought I’d invite you “behind-the-scenes” into how A Tale of Two Cranbrooks came together.
Cinematographer Josh Samson and producer Vince Chavez film the Booth-made tea kettle in Cranbrook House. April 6, 2023. Photograph by Nina Blomfield.
As with all Center projects, I started work on the film in Cranbrook Archives. The Booth family records are extensive, and with our archivists Deborah Rice and Laura MacNewman, I spent several afternoons consulting documents (letters, photographs, manuscripts, scrapbooks, etc.) assembled by many generations of Booths to learn the family story. Henry Wood Booth’s handwritten The Annals of Cranbrook were especially helpful.
Detail of a postcard of Cranbrook, Kent with handwritten notes by Henry Wood Booth, from The Annals of Cranbrook manuscript, 1914. Cranbrook Archives.
Then, through the support of Bobbi and Stephen Polk and Ryan Polk, I travelled to England! I visited Cranbrook, Kent, spending time at Cranbrook Museum and Archives and at Cranbrook School. (You can watch a walking history tour I did in Cranbrook, Kent, here and learn more about the Booth family and my trip to England in my virtual lecture, Uncovering Cranbrook: Two Pilgrimages to Kentish Cranbrook.)
Across Cranbrook’s campus are eleven different spaces, including the Archives, that house book collections – some 110,000 physical items. Several of these spaces are typical school or academic research libraries, where students, faculty, and staff can check out the majority of these books. As a library and information science professional, I champion the importance of these lending libraries and the egalitarian access to information they provide.
In this post, however, I’d like to focus on Cranbrook’s non-circulating book collections – those rare, historic, or valuable tomes that, in many cases, hide in plain sight in public areas. With help from colleagues at the Academy of Art, Schools, Institute of Science, and Center for Collections and Research, I’ll highlight some of these gems that promise to delight the bibliophile, art appreciator, historian, or simply the Cranbrook curious.
Cranbrook’s special book collections are carefully preserved as both informational and evidential artifacts, and many are housed within cultural heritage areas. Valued not only for research purposes, they also serve as historical objects which help individually or collectively to tell the Cranbrook story.
South end view of the newly completed Cranbrook House Library, 1920. John Wallace Gillies, photographer. Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives.
The origin of book collecting at Cranbrook actually predates any of the current collection spaces and begins with Cranbrook founders George and Ellen Booth. George, in particular, was an enthusiastic collector, and started acquiring volumes in 1900, commissioning purchases of William Morris works and other fine books in London. As George explained, “I am not a millionaire and cannot pay the big prices now prevailing in New York.” His strategy allowed him to accumulate 1,000 books by 1916, effectively seeding the Cranbrook House Library Collection when construction of the library wing was completed four years later.
Since joining the Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research in late July as the new Collections Fellow, I’ve been busy exploring. These last weeks have been spent learning the Cranbrook story, taking long walks through the beautiful grounds, and getting to know Melvyn Maxwell and Sara Stein Smith, whose Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home will be the primary focus of my two-year fellowship.
Nina Blomfield with Eleen Auvil, Bird [Kiwi], c.1960s, in the Cranbrook Art Museum Collections Vault. Photograph by Kevin Adkisson, September 2021.
While there is much that is new and exciting to discover, I have been surprised to meet some familiar figures around campus.
I am originally from Auckland, New Zealand, but I come to Cranbrook directly from Bryn Mawr College, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where I’ve been a graduate student in History of Art since 2015. This historically women’s college and the six institutions founded by George and Ellen Booth have much more in common than one might first imagine.
Like Cranbrook, Bryn Mawr College was conceived as a total work of art: an aesthetic environment that would foster learning and mold young scholars into thoughtful and productive members of society. Major transformations of the College campus were undertaken in the first decades of the twentieth century, just as the Booths began building their vision for Cranbrook. Both institutions were founded on a deep engagement with the Arts and Crafts Movement and a shared belief that art and education were intrinsically entwined.
Christ Church Cranbrook under construction, 1927. Photograph by Oscar H. Murray. Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives, Oscar H. Murray Photograph Collection.
Driving along Lone Pine Road, the architecture of Cranbrook forms a first point of connection between Bloomfield Hills and Bryn Mawr. The stone exterior and ornate windows of Christ Church Cranbrook transport the viewer to the same Gothic past that architects Cope & Stewardson imagined for their Collegiate Gothic Great Hall at Bryn Mawr.
Old Library Great Hall, completed 1907. Undated photograph, Bryn Mawr College Photo Archives, Bryn Mawr College Special Collections.
Further into campus, the organization of Cranbrook into quadrangles and cloisters, the use of hand-hewn materials, and the style of ornament make direct references to historical models. Through their architecture, both Cranbrook and Bryn Mawr, very new American institutions, ground themselves in the traditions of medieval and early modern Western Europe.
At Cranbrook House, the monumental entrance gates seemed even more welcoming when I learned they were fabricated under the direction of celebrated ironworker Samuel Yellin, whose stunning lanterns and wrought iron door handles were a highlight of my daily commute past Goodhart Hall at Bryn Mawr.
George Gough Booth and Samuel Yellin, Cranbrook entrance gates, 1917. Photograph by Kevin Adkisson, September 2021.
Samuel Yellin, lantern, c.1927-1929. Goodhart Hall, Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania. Photograph by Nina Blomfield, August 2019.
Inside Cranbrook House, there are even more connections. Attending a meeting in the Oak Room, I was astonished to be seated in front of a beautiful fireplace surround designed by Henry Mercer of the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works.
Moravian Pottery & Tile Works, “Bible in Tile” fireplace detail, c. 1920. Oak Room, Cranbrook House. Photograph by Kevin Adkisson, September 2021.
Bryn Mawr is located close to Moravian’s headquarters in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and each of the College’s buildings is home to Mercer tiles arranged in a unique pattern. The little dragons in the photograph are adapted from fourteenth-century wyverns and recall the Welsh origins of Bryn Mawr’s name. The figurative tiles are sprinkled throughout the Old Library halls, where they often go unnoticed by busy students rushing between classes.
Moravian Pottery & Tile Works, floor tiles, c.1905-6. Old Library Vestibule, Bryn Mawr College, PA. Photograph by Nina Blomfield, August 2019.
Given the historical associations of these institutions with the Arts & Crafts, the artistic affinities between Cranbrook and my adopted home of Bryn Mawr are not wholly unexpected. But I was less prepared to be welcomed to Cranbrook by not one, but two compatriots from much farther afield!
Walking into Cranbrook Institute of Science for the first time, I was greeted by an adorable Apteryx haastii, the Great Spotted Kiwi, displayed in the ornithology case near the museum entrance. This fuzzy flightless bird is endemic to New Zealand and has become a moniker both for the country’s citizens and its most famous fruit. The Institute’s specimen has rare leucistic or dilute-colored plumage and entered the collection sometime in the 1950s.
Great Spotted Kiwi. Cranbrook Institute of Science. Photograph by Kevin Adkisson, September 2021.
Then, on my first visit to Cranbrook Art Museum I encountered another wee kiwi: a small bronze sculpture by Eleen Auvil, a 1961 graduate of the Academy’s Fiber department. Though dwarfed by the other Cranbrook creatures in the menagerie gallery of With Eyes Opened: Cranbrook Academy of Art Since 1932, Auvil’s tender modeling of the little bird instantly caught my eye.
Eleen Auvil, Bird, c.1960s. Photograph by Kevin Adkisson, September 2021.
As the Institute and the Museum both have their own kiwis, it is exciting that now the Center has one too!
I have enjoyed my first few weeks exploring, living, and working at Cranbrook. Even though this is my first time living in the Midwest, the connections between Cranbrook and my past homes—Bryn Mawr and New Zealand—have made me feel so welcome here. I look forward to making many more discoveries and to sharing them with you on the Cranbrook Kitchen Sink blog in the near future.
—Nina Blomfield, The Decorative Arts Trust Marie Zimmermann Collections Fellow for the Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research, 2021-2023
September 24 is the birthday of Cranbrook’s co-founder George Gough Booth. Trying to decide how best to commemorate his 157th birthday, I landed on the idea of sharing the story of the day he came into the world.
Portrait of George when he was around twelve years old. Photographer W. E. Lindop, Elgin Gallery, St. Thomas, Ontario. Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research.
In 1864, Henry Wood Booth and Clara Louise Irene Gagnier Booth were living in Canada. Clara had already given birth to three children: Charles, Alice, and Grace. Baby Grace had, unfortunately, died at seven months. Clara would go on to have six more children—Edmund, Theodora, Adelaide, Ralph, Roland, and Bertha—for a total of nine children to live past infancy.
Clara Louise Irene Gagnier Booth in 1857. Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research.
Henry Wood Booth in 1862. Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research.
George Gough Booth arrived on September 24, 1864, at 8 Magill (now McGill) Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Henry Wood Booth recalled that George was, “Born in the house at the East end of row on the South side of Magill St. about the middle of the block from Younge St. at 11.30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24, 1864.”
The terrace house at No. 8 Magill Street, the birthplace of George G. Booth in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, as it looked in 1902. Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research
In a missive written much later about the night of George’s birth, Henry recalled “the time when, on opening the front door, I heard your sonorous voice for the first time, while your grandmother, coming down the stairs, assured me ‘it’s a fine boy.’”
But why was Henry out so late on the night George was born? Shouldn’t he have been home with Clara?
Henry Wood Booth’s recollection of the birth of George Gough Booth in 1864. George Gough Booth (1864-1949) Papers (1981-01), Box 1 Folder 1, Cranbrook Archives.
Distraught during Clara’s labor—”The warning came at about 10 p.m.” Henry recalled—the father-to-be was ushered out of the house to get help. His first stop was the home of Mrs. Cavie, across Magill Street, “who was in bed but promised to ‘dress and go over at once,’ which she did.” Henry then ran to Mother Gagnier’s house. She lived a mile away. “She also promised to go at once, and did.”
His final stop was the home of Dr. James Ross, who lived almost three miles away. Dr. Ross, however, took his time, dressing while a nervous Henry waited. He regretted waiting for the doctor, “I should have hurried home and told them there that the doctor was coming.”
George, “being a lively one,” commented Henry, “and his mother equal to the task,” had already made his entrance into the world, with the assistance of the experienced Grandmother Gagnier, before the doctor and Henry had reached the house.
George Gough got his first name from his great-grandfather as well as his uncle, both named George Booth. Gough came from two sources. Henry’s grandmother Elizabeth Dann Gough Booth had been a member of the influential Gough family back in England, and Henry’s father’s name was Henry Gough Booth.
In addition, Henry and Clara enjoyed the work of the famous temperance orator John Gough. Henry had once heard Gough lecture in 1849, where Henry signed “the pledge” to stop drinking, and became a champion of temperance. The Booths sought to dedicate George to “the sacred cause of temperance” and thought the strong middle name would help.
George Gough Booth did maintain a temperate life, so Henry and Clara’s goal was achieved.
Another thing Henry and Clara passed on to their son George: a tradition of honoring the family ancestry through names:
George’s second son’s name was Warren, his wife Ellen Scripps Booth’s middle name
His first daughter was named Grace Ellen, after his sister who died in infancy and his wife
His youngest son was named Henry after his father, grandfather, and a long line of Henrys before him
His youngest daughter Florence’s middle name was Louise, his mother’s middle name
All three of his sons’ middle names were Scripps, his wife’s maiden name
Ellen Scripps Booth and George Gough Booth with their children on their 50th wedding anniversary in 1937. The Booths are, from front row, from left: James Scripps, Henry Scripps, Warren Scripps. Second row from left: Ellen Scripps, George Gough, Grace Ellen, Florence Louise. Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research
And George and Ellen’s home, estate, and community they founded was, of course, named for the town in Kent, England, where Henry Wood Booth was born: Cranbrook.
And with that, I’d like to wish a very Happy Birthday, Mr. Booth!
—Leslie S. Mio, Associate Registrar, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research
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