Cornerstone: Meeting Place of Past and Future

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Dialogue introduced its readers to Cornerstone, “An Organization of Latter-day Saints for the Preservation of their Architectural Heritage,” in its roundtable on the Coalville Tabernacle (Winter 1970). Since its organization, Cornerstone has played a significant role in the attempts to preserve buildings that are of historical importance to Mormon heritage. In the following note Frederick S. Buchanan tells more about Cornerstone and its activities. 

Many of the recent writings about society and its problems reveal heightened awareness concerning the impact of the future upon man. According to the “experts,” the steadily accelerating speed of change will be so great that man will become, and is perhaps now, a victim of something akin to culture shock. The impact of this “future shock” is one factor which has stimulated a group of Utahns into giving considerable time and energy to the serious consideration of the place of the past in the present and future. For the past year this group has been actively promoting the objectives of “Cornerstone,” a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and continued use of buildings having a significant historic and aesthetic place in the Mormon experience. From its inception in December 1971, Cornerstone has identified its mission as two-fold: 

1. Research—so that the significance of such buildings as the Bountiful Tabernacle or the 18th Ward in Salt Lake City can be demonstrated and documented, historically and architecturally, and so that alternate uses of buildings will be considered should they cease to be a functional part of the religious community. 

2. Education—so that the communities which built these places of worship and service can become more aware of their unique contribution and be more sensitive of the need that modern communities have of maintaining their physical, spiritual and aesthetic heritage.

To accomplish these objectives members of Cornerstone have been surveying nineteenth century Mormon buildings for the purpose of gathering data relating to their architectural and historical significance. A number of public meetings have been held at which the need for concerted attention to the problems of preserving these examples of the Mormon architectural heritage have been graphically portrayed. Some small measure of the success of the group’s efforts was the recent addition of the Bountiful Tabernacle to the Utah Register of Historic Sites and its subsequent nomination to the National Register of Historic Sites. 

In December 1972 a new Board of Trustees for Cornerstone was elected consisting of Dale F. Beecher, Ph.D. candidate in history, University of Utah; Frederick S. Buchanan, Assistant Professor of Cultural Foundations of Education, University of Utah; Bevan Chipman, School Social Worker, Jordan District; Jeffery O. Johnson, Manuscript Curator, Church Archives; Lee Last, Interior Designer; Myron L. Sorensen, Attorney; Sharon Lee Swenson, Ph.D. candidate in English, University of Utah; Maureen Ursenbach, Editor, Church History Department. At a subsequent meeting of the board, Maureen Ursenbach was elected President with Bevan Chipman as First Vice President and Sharon Lee Swenson as Second Vice President. Myron L. Sorensen was chosen to serve as Secretary-Treasurer. 

At the December meeting of Cornerstone Dr. Leonard Arrington, Church Historian, made an interesting presentation on the history of the Logan Temple and Tabernacle. He stressed the fact that such buildings were a means of enriching the spiritual, social and the economic life of the communities. From 1885 to 1900 the Logan Temple was used as an educational center with regular lectures on history, natural philosophy, and political economy as well as theology being con ducted for some 150 students each season. For Dr. Arrington the Logan Temple “demonstrates the early settlers’ belief that life is more than a struggle for physical survival”—for them it was a “visual reminder of the omnipresence of eternity.” 

The task of Cornerstone is essentially of a long-term nature—one of changing Mormon community attitudes toward their history as it finds expression in the bricks, stone and mortar of meeting houses, tabernacles and chapels. Perhaps the spires, the rock foundations, or the murals depicting early church leaders taken singly and alone are not always sufficient reason for preserving pioneer buildings, but when taken together with the spirit of Mormon history, these perishable materials come to symbolize a way of life which will never return and to which we owe a great cultural debt. The spirit of community which “pioneer” buildings symbolize is not something to be lightly set aside in this day of rapid change and “future shock.” Cornerstone exists to help the Mormon community meet the future not by looking backward nostalgically, but by discovering the strength of its religious heritage through its architecture.