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Aural Heritage Preservation of Historic American Churches
As historically significant church buildings are remodeled and destroyed, we also lose the aural heritage that has shaped America's diverse Christian narratives. This project has the following specific objectives:
The aural heritage data and auralization products created by the project are available for free and open access. The data is documented as impulse responses (IRs) digital audio files widely used in audio engineering, acoustics, and music research.
This project is generously supported by The Creative Arts Collective for Christian Life and Faith.
Supervisor
Dr. Doyuen Ko (Audio Engineering Technology, Belmont University)
Graduate Research Assistants
Select a church in the View tab and click Church Info for the full historical write-up and acoustic measurement data. Brief summaries are shown below.
A historic predominantly African American church with deep ties to the Civil Rights Movement. James Lawson hosted civil protest workshops here attended by Diane Nash, John Lewis, and others. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
A Gothic Episcopal church designed in the English Parish style by New York firm Dudley and Wills. Served as an armory during the Civil War and became an all-Black congregation in 1896. Listed on the National Historic Register since 1972.
The first Episcopal church in Tennessee, designed in the Victorian Gothic style by Francis Hatch Kimball. Known for 55 memorial stained-glass windows and a historic pipe organ. Became the Cathedral of the Diocese of Tennessee in 1997.
A Korean immigrant congregation affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting in the former home of country music legend Hank Williams — a Nashville landmark purchased and preserved in 1978.
A Gothic Revival landmark completed in 1931, designed by architects Charles I. Barber and John Russell Pope. Features a Hugh Tyler mural, intricate stained-glass windows, an antiphonal pipe organ, and a bell tower silent for 75 years before 2006.
Designed by William Strickland in the Egyptian Revival style and completed in 1851. Considered by many to be "the single most important Egyptian Revival building in the world." Designated a historic landmark in 1993.