Our Lady of Victory Church
60 William Street | also 56 William Street | Financial District | built 1947
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1944
Radio host Major Bowes, of the Original Amateur Hour and its gong, donates the land for the church
Our Lady of Victory stands on land given by Edward 'Major' Bowes, a former Capitol Theatre manager who became a Goldwyn Pictures vice president in 1922. In 1934 he launched his Original Amateur Hour on station WHN, known for a gong that ended weak acts until he abandoned it in 1936. A bronze plaque in the church records that the site went to Cardinal Spellman, whose war memorial parish dates from 1944.
“Our Lady of Victory Church in Lower Manhattan is built on land donated by Bowes.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1944
Cardinal Francis Spellman founds Our Lady of Victory as a war memorial
Cardinal Francis Spellman established Our Lady of Victory in 1944, when victory in World War II seemed near but was not yet assured, and it became known as the War Memorial Church. Major Edward Bowes donated the land at 60 William Street. The parish met at 23 William Street in 1944 and 1945 while Eggers & Higgins designed the permanent church.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1947
Government-securities dealer Christopher Devine leads the funds drive and gives the main altar
Christopher J. Devine, who founded the firm C.J. Devine & Co. and dealt in U.S. government securities, headed the campaign to pay for the church. He and his wife gave the main altar in memory of the Kirby and Devine families, as a bronze plaque in the entrance records. Another Wall Street donor, George Doty of Goldman Sachs, gave the carillon in memory of his sister Josephine Jaburg.
“Devine was founder and Senior Partner of C.J. Devine & Co. a noted dealer in United States Government securities, who led the funds drive to build the church.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1947
Cardinal Spellman dedicates the new Georgian Revival church
The brick Georgian Revival church, planned to cost $430,000, was dedicated by Cardinal Spellman on June 23, 1947. A plaque at the entrance carries his words thanking Our Lady of Victory for the war's victory. Inside are a Soldier's Shrine in the lower chapel, a memorial to Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, and a September 11th remembrance book.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1978
The Edith Stein Guild gives the church a memorial to Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
A bronze plaque in the church's entrance area, a gift of the Edith Stein Guild of New York in 1978, honors Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, the religious name of Edith Stein, with the line that her Calvary was Auschwitz. Today a Teresa Benedicta Auschwitz Memorial in the lobby commemorates her as a victim of the Holocaust.
“Teresa Benedicta of the Cross / Her Calvary was Auschwitz / Gift of the Edith Stein Guild / New York, 1978 A.D.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 2001
A stained-glass fanlight over the Pine Street door records the skyline of September 11, 2001
Above the Pine Street entrance, a stained-glass fanlight shows the downtown skyline including the World Trade Center, and is inscribed 'September 11th Year 2001.' A September 11th Remembrance Book is also kept on display. Today the church functions chiefly as a daytime house of worship, not as a parish for the surrounding neighborhood.
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
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