The Divine Lorraine
The
Lorraine
apartments building came into existence on the corner of Broad and
Fairmount in the 1894. Catering to the wealthier citizens of the
city, the Lorraine boasted an in-house staff as well as electricity
in all apartments. A centralized kitchen also meant that there was no
need for a personal one, since daily meals could be delivered to you
as needed. The hotel made a name for itself through its luxurious
amenities, and also the fact that it was one of the first high-rises
in all of the city of Philadelphia. The architect behind this
beautiful landmark was a Mr.Willis Gaylord Hale, who himself was a
resident of the city.
Willis
Gaylord Hale designed numerous buildings around the city of
Philadelphia throughout his years, but as time progressed his heavily
Victorian-influenced design work became replaced by the sleeker (and
exponentially simpler) constructions which were coming into
popularity after the turn of the 20th
century. Sadly most of the structures which Willis Gaylord Hale
created
during his lifetime no longer stand today, with many of them having
been razed after the Great Depression to make way for modern
structures throughout the city. This all culminates to make the
Lorraine building all the more important, as it now stands as a
symbol of the beauty which was old Philadelphia, and as a reminder of
what was lost through the city's short-sighted architectural
modernization. Still,
there is far more to the story of the Lorraine apartments building
than just its outward beauty...
This building truly came into the
limelight in 1948 when Father Divine purchased it to use as a housing
facility for the Universal Peace Mission Movement, renaming it with
the badge it carries to this day; the Divine Lorraine Hotel. The
Universal Peace Movement was open to people of all sexes, religions,
and unlike most anything of the era – all races. Thus making the
Divine Lorraine one of the first racially integrated hotels of its
kind in the United States. Shortly after the purchase of the hotel,
Father Divine altered the top-floor auditorium for use as a public
place of worship. He also opened the hotel's kitchen to the needy,
charging only 25 cents for a meal. Opinions on Father Divine and his
work vary immensely, ranging from that of literally being God
incarnate (yes, really), to the possibility that he was in fact a
fraud and one of the first public cult leaders in the nation. Though
his life was nothing short of a scandal-fueled roller coaster, this
does not change the fact that a number of Father Divine's actions did
better our society profoundly.
So
the Divine Lorraine hotel exists today not only as a beautiful and
rare relic of the past, but as a place which very publicly aided in
the civil rights movement during a crucial time. Though several
attempts have been made to redevelop the old hotel, it wasn't until
2014 that a plan was really able to get proper traction. The building
is now in the hands of EB Realty Management, and they have done an amazing job rehabilitating
the Divine Lorraine to once again stand as the celebrated landmark it
deserves to be.
Looking upward at the inner balconies.
The building was stripped of its walls and rooms years ago, now each floor is one large open space with support beams.
This is an older video of ours. When watching, you may notice that it has a different "feel" to it than our current-day films. This is because the style of our cinematography has progressed over time, and our equipment has changed and improved throughout the years. We have chosen to leave our older videos available for viewing online to illustrate the evolution of our work.