This is part two of a series published by the 

Statement examining the Canterbury House, its 
influences and history. Part one was published 
last week, titled “You Can’t Bury Canterbury: 
Ann Arbor’s Hidden Musical Gem.”
A 

simple bass line plucked on an 
upright bass lays beneath the voice 
of a strong soprano. The voice sings:

“Maybe we could use this as communion.
Stand and hold hands.”
[Chairs shuffling and sliding]
“We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall-”
[Audience members join in]
“overcome someday
Deep in my heart …”
The recording sample, just as the whole 

audience starts to sing, fades out. If the civil 
rights and anti-Vietnam movement can be 
exemplified in one song, “We Shall Overcome” 
is it. Originally a gospel song and covered 
countless times by artists like Pete Seeger, 
Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and everyone under the 
sun, this rendition comes from the powerful 
and captivating voice of Odetta, recorded in 
1967 at Canterbury House and found among 
the other recordings digitized by the Michi-
gan History Project and Project President 
Alan Glenn.

In addition to the concerts staged at the 

coffee shop location in the ‘60s, Canterbury 
House became a hub for political activism and 
people who wanted to express their disdain 
for the United States’s involvement in Viet-
nam. According to Canterbury House records, 
former Chaplain Dan Burke perceived Can-
terbury House as an instrumental institution 
in Ann Arbor’s history of activism.

“I think it was unanimous that we were 

opposed to the war,” Burke said. “We were 

involved in anti-war protests and in some 
–– but not all –– of the counterculture. Lots 
of organizing events occurred in the building 
just because it was a place everybody knew 
and trusted.”

However, as “We Shall Overcome” should 

make obvious, former Canterbury House 
doorkeeper and performer Bob Franke said 
the music and the politics weren’t mutually 
exclusive, but rather intertwined in a very 
purposeful way. According to Franke, folk 
music is inherently political, as its storytelling 
nature and ability to be sung in congregation 
makes it a powerful force against injustice 
and the evils of the world.

“The idea of music being good for a num-

ber of political purposes and being a power-
ful way of basically expressing … political 
solidarity, that was all up front and that was 
a part of what was happening,” Franke said. 
“The Civil Rights era definitely fed into it and 
was a part of it. There was a real sense that we 
were writing about politics as well as music.”

In terms of political participation, a lot of 

the regular patrons, like Canterbury photog-
rapher Al Blixt and Franke, were involved 
with the cause simply by hanging around and 
discussing how to further “the Movement,” as 
Gayle Rubin, an associate professor of anthro-
pology and women’s studies at the University 
of Michigan, explained.

“It was obviously a highly charged political 

era, so there was this counterculture vibe like 
Woodstock all day,” Blixt said. “What we felt 
was we had an unpopular war going on and a 
lot of us were suffused with the idea of put-
ting an end to that.”

“I was not a political organizer per se but, 

like many young people, it was clear to me 

what was right, and so I hung out and I sup-
ported what I could,” Franke said. “As much 
as I look back on those days with compas-
sion for everyone involved, I learned from my 
father’s experience that war was essentially a 
crock and went at it from that angle.”

The coffee shop location dabbled in all ele-

ments of counterculture amid the political 
turbulence of the ’60s, according to Glenn’s 

research of Canterbury.

“Canterbury was deeply involved with all 

aspects of the ’60s movement,” Glenn wrote 
in an email interview. “Social justice, racial 
equality, political revolution, anti-war pro-
test, draft resistance, you name it. Plus the 
explosion of creativity that took place in the 
arts and sciences. It was a truly happening 
place made possible through the hard work 
and sincere commitment of a lot of groovy 
people, the likes of which we unfortunately 
won’t see again for a long time.”

Glenn’s sentiments echoed the political cli-

mate of the University community as well. On 
campus, only a few blocks from Canterbury 
House, students were organizing protests and 
teach-ins against the Vietnam War and other 
political causes.

After the ’60s had come and gone and Burke 

and Martin Bell had moved ministries, Can-
terbury House decided to take a step back 
from the concerts and counterculture. In 
1971, it moved back to the house on North 
Division Street that it occupied first in 1935 
and concentrated on the ministry, a return to 
its roots. However, its involvement in social 
equality didn’t come to a complete stop. How 
could it, with such a rich history of activism 
under its belt?

On Sept. 28, 1975, the Canterbury House 

Gayness and Spirituality Group, an organi-
zation “for people of any spiritual path who 
relate positively to their own gayness,” met 
for the first time. The group was instrumental 
in making gay students at the University feel 
accepted by a religious institution in a time 
when homosexuality was persecuted by soci-
ety and the law.

By providing a safe haven for people of all 

creeds to discuss their sexual orientation 
and spirituality, as well as an opportunity to 
meet other gay students on campus at events 
like the “Gay Dance Party” and other weekly 

meetings, Canterbury House led the charge in 
combatting stigmas against homosexuality in 
the ’70s.

After moving to a new space on South State 

Street in 1978 in hopes of reinvigorating the 
buzz around the ministry from the ’60s, Can-
terbury House rebranded as Canterbury Loft. 
Poetry readings, musical theater performanc-
es and concerts followed suit. However, the 
public profile of the venue had diminished 
from its heyday in the ’60s. Canterbury moved 
back to its home on Division in 1984 and then 
relocated to its current home at 721 E. Huron 
in 1995.

And now, cue the jazz.
W

hen Matthew Lawrence took the 
job of Canterbury House chap-
lain in 1996, he had big plans for 

how to reinvigorate the church’s role in Ann 
Arbor’s music scene while also maintaining a 
spiritual mindset.

“Every generation must reinterpret the 

Gospel according to its own categories, but 
our current shift in paradigms reflects more 
than a generational transition,” Lawrence 
said, according to Canterbury House docu-
ments. “We are entering a new epoch of faith, 
and we are the shapers of the future. It is a 
time of experimentation and playfulness, 
imagination and openness; it is also a time of 
painful conflict and confusion as the current 
divisions in the Episcopal Church and our 
society testify.”

For this mission, Lawrence called on Ste-

phen Rush, a current professor of perform-
ing arts technology in the School of Music, 
Theatre & Dance and the former music direc-
tor at the Canterbury House, to bring his 
music expertise to Canterbury House. At this 
moment, Jazz Mass was born.

“(Lawrence) asked me if I wanted to do 

music there, like jazz, and I probably used 
some expletives and I said, ‘Listen, I’ve got a 

Wednesday, October 17, 2018 // The Statement
4C
Wednesday, October 17, 2018 // The Statement 
 
5C

ILLUSTRATION BY EMILY KOFFSKY

You Can’t Bury 
Canterbury

BY MATT HARMON, 

DAILY NEWS EDITOR

“The group was instrumental in 

making gay students at the University 
feel accepted by a religious institution 

in a time when homosexuality was 
persecuted by society and the law.”

“THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY” : CANTERBURY HOUSE 1885-2018

1978

1984

1995

1996

2016

2017

2018
Chaplain Matthew 
Lawrence is hired 
at Chaplain and, 
with Jazz Studies 
Professor Stephen 
Rush, starts the 
weekly Jazz Mass

In hopes of 
attracting 
former buzz 
around the 
institution in the 
‘60s, the ministry 
moves to South 
State Street, 
rebranded as 
“Canterbury 
Loft”

Canterbury once 
again moves 
back to house on 
Division

Canterbury 
makes the 
final move to 
721 Huron

SMTD Senior 
Kenji Lee 
hired as 
Canterbury 
Concert 
Coordinator

After a Skype 
interview 
while hiking 
the Appalacian 
Trail, current 
Chaplain 
Matthew 
Lukens is hired

Michigan History Project 
unearths lost recordings of 
Mitchell, Young, Dave Van 
Ronk and others from ‘60s 
Canterbury coffee house era. 

Canterbury House continues 
to host activist planning 
sessions, lively concerts and 
various social justice events

1885

Bishop 
Samuel Harris 
proposes the 
creation of 
an Episcopal 
Student 
Church at 
University of 
Michigan
1887

Hobart Hall 
(renamed 
Harris Hall) is 
built at 617 
East Huron 
Street.

1890

The Hobart Guild hosts their 
first meeting
1935

Ida Jenks is 
hired as the full 
time Counselor 
on Women 
and Reverend 
Frederick Leech 
as the full time 
Chaplain

1947

1967

1968

1971

Canterbury House 
moves to 218 North 
Division Street

Canterbury 
House 
moves to 
330 Maynard 
and attracts 
panoply 
of musical 
genres and 
future stars 

Bob Franke 
publishes “Joni 
Mitchell Yang, 
Dylan Yin” in 
The Michigan 
Daily ahead of 
Mitchell’s second 
series of shows 
at Canterbury 
House

Canterbury House 
moves to a space 
above Mark’s 
Coffee House on 
William Street 
and then back to 
Division location

BY MATT HARMON, DAILY NEWS EDITOR

The legacy and future of Ann Arbor’s 
musical gem (Part 2)

