Sacred
Wilbur Wright at Christ Church Cranbrook
One of the “Dawn Men” at Christ Church Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
Archive article
Wilbur Wright at Christ Church Cranbrook
Christ Church Cranbrook · Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Wilbur Wright is one of the “Dawn Men” at Christ Church Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills, just north of Detroit, Michigan. Cranbrook’s archives note that Ulric H. Ellerhusen created some of the statues, but their records cannot state with certainty which sculptor made each individual figure.
A Christ Church Cranbrook publication gives the complete list of the Dawn Men: ten figures on the north side and eight on the south side. It also distinguishes two additional west-front figures, the Right Reverend Herman Page and the Reverend Samuel S. Marquis, as outside the Dawn Men series.
A Library of Congress inventory in Lawrie’s papers attributes the Cranbrook buttress figures of Martin Luther, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Columbus, Gutenberg and Leonardo da Vinci to Lawrie.
A typescript in Lawrie’s papers at the Library of Congress, most likely prepared by his wife, Mildred, records that the Los Angeles Library’s demanding schedule led Lawrie to recommend Ulric H. Ellerhusen to take over the Cranbrook Chapel sculpture. Lawrie recalled making Luther and Columbus himself.
Ellerhusen also collaborated with Lee Lawrie on the tower figures at the Louisiana State Capitol.
Christ Church Cranbrook was consecrated on September 29, 1928. Its architect was Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue, although the church was built after his death in April 1924.
Christ Church Cranbrook · Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
American Architect magazine
American Architect, April 20, 1929. The printed page credits Ulric H. Ellerhusen as sculptor, though Cranbrook’s archives cannot assign each individual Dawn Man to a particular sculptor with certainty.
The record identifies Lee Lawrie as sculptor of certain buttress figures, including George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
From Lawrie’s papers at the Library of Congress, most likely typed by his wife, Mildred. It records that Lawrie recommended Ulric H. Ellerhusen to take over the Cranbrook Chapel sculpture while the Los Angeles Library commission held a demanding schedule.
Lawrie’s inventory attributes the figures of Martin Luther, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Columbus, Gutenberg and Leonardo da Vinci to him.
A Christ Church Cranbrook publication lists ten Dawn Men along Lone Pine, from east to west.
A Christ Church Cranbrook publication lists eight Dawn Men on the south side, plus two additional west-front figures outside the series.