Four designers of stained glass, Ball, Burnham, Connick, and Goodhue, were the craftsmen who created the windows of All Saints Parish. They, and their associates, were contemporaries, friends and/or rivals of each other and the documentation of their comings and goings can only add to the understanding of the windows.
In 1905, Harry E. Goodhue designed the Corey Windows (1 & 2), the two oldest windows in the Church and, at the time, Goodhue's largest Commission. These windows were only his second commission on such a large scale (having finished the Robeson Window at Emmanuel Church); yet, upon their completion, he received much contemporary acclaim. Bertram Goodhue, the brother of Harry, a member of Cram, Wentworth and Goodhue, the architects who designed the All Saints building in 1895, certainly played a key role in securing this contract. Harry Goodhue's studio in Cambridge trained many stained glass designers, including Walter G. Ball, Wilbur Burnham, and Wright Goodhue, Harry's son. After his father's death in 1918, Wright Goodhue had a short but brilliant career designing and executing windows for over thirty churches. He died tragically of suicide at the age of twenty-six.
Charles J. Connick came to Boston from Pittsburgh. In 1902, he first worked with Ralph Adams Cram (the All Saints Parish architect) on a small commission in Roxbury. Connick was working in the studio of Arthur Cutter when, through fortuitous circumstances (see How Charles J. Connick Came to All Saints), he was given the commission by Cram for the George Champlin Window (11). In August 1910, Connick went on a"pilgrimage" to the Cathedral at Chartres, considered by many to be the finest example of stained glass in the world. Upon his return, Connick worked at Horace Phipps' Workshop and, using his new experiences and insights designed the Julia Champlin Window (12). By now, commissions were coming his way and toward the end of 1912, Connick set up his own studio at 9 Harcourt Street (where it remained until 1986). In 1923, Connick fabricated the Ver Planck Window (14) in his new studio, considered by some to be "stylistically the finest in the church."In 1926, Charles J. Connick's Rose Window (10) and Walter G. Ball's Hedges Window (5) in the Resting Chapel were two of the highlights of the dedication ceremonies for the new addition to the church. Connick commented about this Rose Window in 1944 saying, "Although the Rose Window in the New York Cathedral is larger, none is more beautiful than the Rose Window at All Saints, Brookline."
Walter G. Ball, the designer of the Hedges Window (5), left Harry Goodhue in 1915 and started his own studio at 2 Palmer Street, Cambridge. The Colonial Stained Glass Works, who received the contract to execute the Hedges Window, was established in 1889 at 161 High Street, moved to 167 Oliver Street in 1920, and finally went to 64 Stanhope Street where Walter G. Ball designed the window for them.
The Edwards Window (7) in 1928 and the Murphy Window (6) in 1938 were the last two windows personally designed by Charles Connick for All Saints Parish. He died in 1945. His employees organized the Charles J. Connick Associates and continued the Connick tradition, designing and making the Hotchkin Windows (3 & 4) in 1954 & 1958, the Connor Windows (8 & 9) in 1964, the Saltonstall Window (13) in 1964, patterned after the earlier Champlin Windows, and the Clerestory Windows (1964), which replaced the original clerestory windows. In 1986, the final window produced by Connick Associates was installed at All Saints Parish -- the Henry Pepper Memorial Window (16).
In 1916, Wilbur H. Burnham, the designer of the Tyler Window (15), also left Goodhue, but he went to Horace J. Phipps (where Connick had been in 1911-12). Ball and Burnham combined talents in 1918 and founded their own company which lasted until 1920 when they both joined Phipps to form the Phipps-Ball-Burnham Co. at 888 Washington Street, Boston. In 1923, after a three-year association, they separated with Phipps starting anew at 3 Joy Street, Burnham opening at 168 Dartmouth Street (Ball going to 64 Stanhope Street). The Wilbur H. Burnham Studio later relocated at 1126 Boylston Street, Boston; and later, Wakefield, MA under the direction of Wilbur Herbert Burnham, Jr.
