Saint Joseph the Worker Church

1640 Addison Street
Berkeley

The history of the stained glass windows at Saint Joseph the Worker has been written by several people who carefully researched the origins of those windows.

Rev. Harry B. Morrison wrote a history of Saint Joseph’s Parish for the centennial celebration.  His wonderful articles were compiled and republished by Jeanne Loughman for the 12Oth anniversary of the parish.  The section on the Mayer & Co. stained glass windows is excerpted here.

A short history of the Mayer stained glass organization has been contributed by Gail Tierney, who is studying Mayer stained glass in the San Francisco Bay area as the subject of her thesis for a master’s degree at Dominican College.

The Mayer & Co. windows include the ten pictorial windows in the nave and transepts, the two rose windows in the transepts, the rose window in the choir, and the transom window above the vestibule doors.

In 1965, Carl Huneke, Century Stained Glass Studio, San Francisco created the eight stained glass windows in the clerestory of the nave.  Those symbolic windows complement the pictorial Mayer windows directly below.  The original pencil sketches of the symbols were rediscovered this year and copies of those sketches have been provided to the parish.  The symbols represent the seven Sacraments and the Holy Trinity in the east windows.  The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit and Isaiah XI-2, the source of the seven gifts, are in the west windows.

The nine windows above the sanctuary have always been painted windows, rather than leaded stained glass.  The first were crosses with borders, and were probably installed at the time the church was built.  The second set of windows had an art deco design. The dedications for some of those windows are included here.  The third set of windows is currently being painted.  

The vestibule door lights were designed by two different artists from about 1988 to 1990.  Some information on those windows is included.

The oldest window in Saint Joseph’s Church is the small painted and leaded window in the chapel (formerly the baptistry).  The Presentation in the Temple was probably created about 1883 for the old church.  By the time that building was demolished in 1913, the window had been moved to the convent.  When the convent was no longer used, the window was moved to its present location.  The artist is unknown.

Terry Blaine - September 1999

Excerpt from “History of Saint Joseph’s Parish, Berkeley, California 1878-1979”.
Reprinted from the Centennial Newsletters of 1978 and 1979 for the 12Oth anniversary of the Parish,
April 20, 1999.

Articles by Father Harry B. Morrison, Associate Pastor, 1977-1979
Founding President, Berkeley Historical Society, 1978