Synagogues: The Architecture Series with Dr. Samuel Gruber Part 1- Walnut Street Shul, Chelsea, MA

Congregation Agudath Shalom, also known as Agudas Sholom, the Walnut Street Synagogue, or the Walnut Street Shul, is an active, historic Orthodox Jewish synagogue at 145 Walnut Street in Chelsea, Massachusetts. The present building was erected in 1909, one year after the great fire that destroyed a third of the buildings in the city, including the congregation's previous building. The architect was Harry Dustin Joll. The Walnut Street Synagogue is the oldest surviving synagogue in Chelsea, a city that was one-third Jewish at the time the synagogue was built. The synagogue possesses a remarkable series of wall and ceiling frescoes painted by Jewish immigrant artists. The magnificent carved Torah Ark was created by San Katz, a noted Boston-area cabinetmaker who specialized in synagogue furniture in the 1920s. The synagogue was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. Follow up links: https://samuelgruber.com/ http://samgrubersjewishartmonuments.b... https://walnutstreetsynagogue.com/ https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/co... https://www.jhcns.org/Chelsea-Finkels... Samuel D. Gruber, Ph.D, accomplished researcher, author, curator and consultant, is the founder and managing director of Gruber Heritage Global (GHG) - a cultural resources consulting firm. For more than 35 years, he has been a leader in the documentation, protection, preservation, and presentation of Jewish cultural heritage sites around the world. He has written two books about synagogue architecture; American Synagogues: A Century of Architecture and Jewish Community (2003) and Synagogues (1999), and has contributed numerous chapters, articles, and conference papers to other publications. Since 2008, he has written a popular blog, "Samuel Gruber's Jewish Art and Monuments." Dr. Gruber has a B.A, in Medieval Studies from Princeton University, and an M.A, M.Phil. and Ph.D. Degrees from Columbia University in Art History and Archeology with a specialization in the history of architecture. He is a Rome Prize winner and Fellow of the American Academy of Rome and has received numerous research grants and has participated in many grant-funded team projects. Dr. Gruber has taught in the Jewish Studies Program at Syracuse University since 1994 and has given courses at Binghamton, Colgate, Columbia, Cornell, and Temple Universities and LeMoyne College where he has taught about medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and Jewish art and architecture; Holocaust art and memory; and the history of plastics. Dr. Gruber lives in Syracuse, NY where he is an active member of Temple Concord, is past president of the Preservation Association of Central New York (PACNY), and is active in local art, history, and architecture efforts.