Oral History Interview with John Grossman

Partial Transcript: "Tell us a little you'd like to share about your background."

Segment Synopsis: John Grossman outlines his life, discussing his career as an architect and first interaction with the Unitarian Church through serving as the church's architect. Grossman also describes his current involvement with the First Unitarian Church of Louisville.



John talks about his family.

Keywords: career; education; family; Louis and Henry Architects

Subjects: Architecture; Berea (Ky.); University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: "Why don't we get into the history of the fire and the rebuilding...

Segment Synopsis: John Grossman discusses his early involvement with the church, and the process by which his firm was selected for the project. He also discusses his firm's philosophy of "programming," where they determine a design that best fits the needs of those that would be using it.

Keywords: art glass

Subjects: architecture; church architecture; fire; organ (musical instruments); windows

Partial Transcript: "How did your firm work with the other entities - the contractors, the engineers, the other companies?"

Segment Synopsis: Grossman discusses his firm's involvement with the project to rebuild the First Unitarian Church after a major fire in December of 1985. He details how his firm worked with church members and contractors in order to preserve the church's historic aesthetic while also updating it to reflect the modern Unitarian faith.

Subjects: architects; architecture; historic preservation

Partial Transcript: "Have you ever rebuilt a church like this, where you were incorporating the remains of the old church?

Segment Synopsis: Grossman discusses his involvement with other historic building projects, and goes into detail about a public radio station's move to a building on 4th street in Louisville (which burned down shortly after they took on the project).

Subjects: Adaptive reuse of buildings; architects; architecture; historic preservation; Public radio

Partial Transcript: "By rebuilding this church you became acquainted with the ministers, Bob Reed and Richard Beal."

Segment Synopsis: Grossman details his relationship with ministers Richard Beal and Bob Reed during their involvement with the rebuilding process. Richard left most of the building ideas to the congregation - he cared but wasn't concerned. He left rebuilding to John. There is also some discussion of Grossman's wedding, which was officiated by Beal in a courtyard by the church. He also tells how the courtyard was created.

Keywords: Barry Bingham; Bingham, Mary

Subjects: architecture; clergy; Courtyard gardens; Marriage

Partial Transcript: "To wrap up, are there any other things you'd like to say about being a member of this church, being a member of the choir, your current responsibilities in finances, the people, the building...?"

Segment Synopsis: Interview concludes with Grossman discussing how he transitioned from running his architectural firm to running the church finances. He also briefly mentions how he developed an interest in the church's choral music program.

Subjects: architecture; Finance; Music