Detroit Branch & Fairbanks Panels

One of my favorite parts about running this blog is when local members reach out to me to alert me of some unique architectural feature or art in their local building. I had that happen to me just recently. A member contacted me explaining that, in the 1940s, the Relief Society had a monument erected on Temple Square, between the Tabernacle and the Assembly Hall. It houses the Nauvoo Bell, and panels around the monument were made by Avard T. Fairbanks (the same one whose works are now housed in the Granite Ward Chapel).

A year or two after the monument went up, the local bishop in Detroit offered to purchase the original carvings from Fairbanks. He accepted the offer, and the 3 carvings were hung in the chapel behind the pulpit.

The three panels are meant to symbolize important roles filled by the women in the Church.

After that chapel was vacated in the 1970s, the panels ended up in storage in the basement of the new meetinghouse (which shares a parking lot with the Detroit Michigan Temple). When cleaning the basement one day, local members asked what the panels were and suggested throwing them away. When the history of the panels was revealed, local leaders instead opted to hang them in the lobby:

The panels still hang there today, enjoyed by local members, although they may not all be aware of the history of the panels, and that they are the original carvings that form a monument on Temple Square.

I love stories like these--there are so many unique pieces of art and heritage that can be found in random meetinghouses across the globe. I hope we can document and preserve as many as possible.