Property Record
1001 UNIVERSITY AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Univ. Congregation, Episcopal Church, St. Francis Hse |
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| Other Name: | St. Francis House Episcopal Student Center |
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| Reference Number: | 113373 |
| Location (Address): | 1001 UNIVERSITY AVE |
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| County: | Dane |
| City: | Madison |
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| Year Built: | 1925 |
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| Additions: | 1964 1930 |
| Survey Date: | 19832019 |
| Historic Use: | house of worship |
| Architectural Style: | English Revival Styles |
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| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | Eschweiler and Eschweiler |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | Bill White will be filing a demolition permit application on April 15, 2011 for Plan Commission review that calls for a Commercial located at 1001 University Ave Madison, WI 53715 to be demolished. For more information regarding this forthcoming application, you may contact the applicant, Bill White, Michael Best and Friedrich, LLP, 1 South Pickney Street #700 Madison, WI 53703 at wfwhite@michaelbest.com or (608)257-3501. Applicant's Comments: Deconstruction of approximately 1965 Addition, relocation of remaining building onsite. Map code 0709-232-0601-9. City of Madison, Wisconsin Underrepresented Communities Historic Resource Survey Report: Within a few months of the Stonewall uprising in New York City in late June of 1969 that sparked a nationwide wave of organization and activism known as the Gay Liberation Movement, organization of Madison’s LGBTQ community shifted from informal gatherings in private homes to formalized organizations and public advocacy for equal rights. Besides the palpable need for legal reforms, there was a pent-up need in the early 1970s for organization, information sharing, community building, and socializing without the risks of harassment. A flurry of groups came together in the early 1970s to meet those needs. Organizers of these early groups used existing spaces, often in upper floors or basements, that were either offered freely or affordably on a nonprofit budget funded largely by “pass-the-hat” fundraisers and small donations. Unfortunately, this meant that these groups were often short-lived and moved frequently. In Madison, it appears that the work of these groups had a cumulative effect, culminating in the formation of OutReach, Inc. The Madison Alliance for Homosexual Equality (MAHE), founded in October 1969, was the first group to organize and publicly advocate for LGBTQ civil rights in the State of Wisconsin. The first gathering of MAHE took place in the St. Francis House Episcopal Student Center at 1001 University Avenue (now 1011 University Avenue). St. Francis House Episcopal Student Center set the precedent in 1969 by hosting the founding of MAHE. MAHE was dedicated to “legal reforms and public education” and established a center in the basement of St. Francis House to facilitate their mission. MAHE coordinated a “day-long teach-in” in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Memorial Union in May of 1970, just 7 months after the organization was founded and less than a year after Stonewall. The event featured sales of books and screening of films with gay and lesbian themes and concluded with the MAHE Day Dance. The Tudor Revival style St. Francis House Episcopal Student Center was designed by the Milwaukee architecture firm of Eschweiler and Eschweiler for the University Congregation of the Episcopal Church. It was built in 1925 at the corner of University Avenue and N. Brooks Street with an address of 1001 University Avenue. In 1964, a Contemporary style addition was built that extended from the western side of the original building. The addition featured a modern protestant Christian sanctuary. In 2012, the 1964 addition was demolished, and the 1925 building was moved immediately to the west of its original location and restored. A new 8-story residential building was built in its original location and was assigned the St. Francis House’s former address 1001 University Avenue. Correspondingly, the relocated St. Francis House Episcopal Student Center was assigned the new address 1011 University Avenue. Many, but not all, of the meetings and events held by LGBTQ organizations, were held in the basement of the building. Both the 1925 building and the 1964 addition had lower levels, and it is unclear which section hosted the meeting and office spaces for LGBTQ organizations. In the fall of 1970, MAHE changed its name to the Gay Liberation Front (GLF), in solidarity with GLF groups in other cities. Their stated mission was to “promote interaction and solidarity within the gay community and to raise the consciousness of the straight world to the problems of sexist oppression.” Madison Gay Sisters was a similar group organized around 1970 to address issues of inequality faced by lesbians. Madison Gay Sisters also held meetings at St. Francis House Episcopal Student Center. Gay Liberation Front and Madison Gay Sisters had common goals of alleviating the fear of LGBTQ people, breaking down stereotypes, and shifting societal attitudes by increasing visibility and dispelling connotations of pathology and delinquency. Around 1972, the two organizations found office space together at 10 North Langdon Street, and the Madison Gay Sisters held some of the earliest publicized dances in Madison exclusively for women. It appears that both of these groups ceased to exist or joined forces with other organizations by the end of 1974. Crossroads of Madison was incorporated in 1972. Crossroads established the Gay Center that same year in a second-floor space at 301 ½ N. Hamilton St. The Gay Center was run by subsequent organizations and was relocated several times was as it evolved over the following decades. In 1973, the Gay Center was relocated to a second-floor space at 550 State Street. During the following year, the Gay Center was relocated once again to St. Francis House Episcopal Student Center at 1001 University Avenue (now 1011 University Avenue). The Gay Center found some stability at this location, where Madison’s Gay Liberation Movement formally began and remained here for the next nine years. Crossroads of Madison Inc. merged with Renaissance of Madison which was incorporated in 1974. Almost immediately, Renaissance began publishing the Gay Coordinator’s Newsletter, a newsletter with high journalistic standards that discussed LGBTQ issues. The newsletter became Gay Renaissance 1976 and ultimately The Gay Endeavor before it ceased publication in 1978. Publishing allowed LGBTQ groups to share news and information throughout the community during the early years of the movement when it was particularly important to gain and retain control of the narrative around gay civil rights issues. The group continued to run the Gay Center. Continuing the trend started by the St. Francis House Episcopal Student Center, other parochial student centers and religious congregations near the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus began opening their doors to LGBTQ organizations in the 1980s. In 1983, the Gay Center moved to 1127 University Avenue, where they continued to hold meetings and events and house their administrative offices, which they began sharing with the prominent LGBTQ political action organization, The United, the following year. The building was originally constructed for the University Methodist Episcopal Church but has been known at various times as Wesley Foundation Chapel, University United Methodist Church, Campus Christian Center, Madison Campus Ministry, and The Crossing: A Campus Christian Center. Luther Memorial Church, at 1021 University Avenue, also provided space for “Gay Al-Anon” and Madison AIDS Support Network meetings. In 1985, the Gay Center was incorporated as the Madison Gay Resource Center. Later that year, they changed their name to the Madison Gay and Lesbian Resource Center. Madison Gay and Lesbian Resource Center and The United remained at the former University Methodist Episcopal Church until 1989, and then at 310 E. Wilson Street from 1989 to 1993, and 14 W. Mifflin Street from 1993 to 1998. In 1998, the Gay and Lesbian Resource Center officially merged with The United to form OutReach, Inc. and continued operating from 14 W. Mifflin Street as the OutReach LGBT Community Center. OutReach was located in the Gateway Mall at 600 Williamson Street from 1999 until 2016. In 2013, OutReach got involved with several other local groups in planning the annual PRIDE parade which has been called the OutReach PRIDE Parade since 2014. OutReach moved in June 2016 to its current location at 2701 International Lane and continues to serve the LGBTQ community. Through a long lineage of groups dating back to 1969, OutReach has become the leading organization supporting and connecting people in the LGBTQ community. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Permits. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |