{"value"=>"<p>The Churches series documents the architecture, clergy, congregations, services, rites and ceremonies, confirmation classes, clubs and associations, special events, and other activities of predominantly Protestant denominations. Included are Abyssinian Baptist Church, Mother A.M.E. Zion, St. Luke's A.M.E., St. Martin's Episcopal, St. Philip's Episcopal, Salem United Methodist, and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Other denominations depicted include Seventh-Day Adventist, Lutheran, Church of God in Christ, Presbyterian, and several storefront Christian churches. A few Catholic parishes, such as St. Charles Borromeo, are included. Also documented are a small number of churches in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx.</p> <p>Depicted are individual and group portraits of clergy, elders, church boards, and members of the congregation. Also portrayed are confirmation and first communion classes; officers and members of church clubs; prayer groups; choirs; and ushers. Many of these group portraits were produced for church journals.</p> <p>Other images include views of parishioners taking part in religious services, social gatherings such as dinners and cotillions, and important events such as groundbreaking ceremonies. Architectural views include exterior views of structures, such as front facades, as well as some interior views emphasizing altars and architectural features.</p> <p>Among the events depicted are the series of concerts given at Abyssinian Baptist Church by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in the early 1980s, featuring Andre Watts, Zubin Mehta, Jessye Norman, Leontyne Price, and Kathleen Battle; views of the 30th Anniversary service (1958) celebrating the founding of St. Martin's Episcopal Church, held at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine; the special service honoring Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie at Abyssinian Baptist Church in 1954; and an event at Salem United Methodist Church honoring singer Marian Anderson. During Hansen's affiliation with St. Philip's Episcopal Church, he produced several images depicting events and activities sponsored by the church including a dinner for Thurgood Marshall, the construction and dedication of the St. Philip's Parish House (ca. 1970), and almost thirty years (late 1950s to mid-1980s) of confirmation class portraits.</p> <p>Noteworthy in the Church series is the amount of work Hansen did for the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. The images of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine include many interior and exterior views of the Cathedral; views of the Ogalvie and Synod Houses; the Outdoor Pulpit; the Cathedral School; views of the Nave and Apse chapels; the bay, clerestory, and Rose windows; sculpture, tapestries, and religious artifacts; and details of the Nave, Choir, Sanctuary, and Presbytery. The collection also depicts the activities of the Cathedral School and Choir; various ordinations and church installations; individual and group portraits of clergy; activities of Cathedral organizations and youth groups; and several special events including the 1954 visit by the Queen Mother, Elizabeth, of England, Duke Ellington's 1968 Sacred Music Concert, and visits by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Michael Ramsey. Many of these images were created with the assistance of Hansen's younger brother, Aubrey. Much of the work created for the Cathedral was published in the seventeenth edition of \"A Guide to the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in the City of New York,\" which was published by the Cathedral Church in 1965.</p>"}