Echoes of History: an Elegy for the Denniston House
Elaine Cawley Weintraub

The Bradley Memorial, the first African American church on the Vineyard, was demolished last week.

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Interesting Vineyarders: Rev. Oscar E. Denniston
Vineyard Gazette
The student of Vineyard history, at least such history as has been published, will recognize the fact that it was largely through the clergy that things were accomplished during the first hundred and fifty years of the Island’s existence as a colony and province. Not only did they preach the word of God to whites and Indians, but they worked energetically to promote various industries and acted as advisors in settling all manner of disputes which arose, besides writing wills and other legal documents and keeping records, in many cases, being the only ones now existing.
 
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Mr. Denniston Dies: Church Is Monument to Oak Bluffs Pastor
Vineyard Gazette

Rev. Oscar E. Denniston, founder of the Bradley Memorial Church, Oak Bluffs, and pastor for the past forty years died at Martha's Vineyard Hospital early Tuesday morning, following a brief confinement which came at the end of some nine years of gradually failing health. He would have been 67 years of age on April 5. He had devoted his life to religious teaching.

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Commission Will Review Santander Bank Roof Work
Alex Elvin

The Martha’s Vineyard Commission voted unanimously Thursday to review the replacement of a Spanish tile roof on the historic Stone Bank in Vineyard Haven.

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MVC Considers Demolition of Denniston House
Alex Elvin

A public hearing late last week saw strong support for tearing down the historic Oak Bluffs house.

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Demolition Delayed for Denniston House
Olivia Hull

The Denniston House will remain standing for now, after a vote by the Oak Bluffs historical commission stalled a request to demolish the former African American church. The commission hopes to negotiate a compromise with the property owner.

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Denniston House Renovation, Expansion Generates Debate
Jim Hickey

As many as 100 people attended an often emotional public hearing held by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission on Thursday, March 20 to hear a proposal to transform the old Bradley Memorial Church in Oak Bluffs into a multi-use building with affordable housing, artists’ workshops and a museum.

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Bradley Square Is Under Fire
Jim Hickey

A $5.1 million plan to convert the old Bradley Memorial Church off Masonic avenue in Oak Bluffs into a mixed use building with affordable housing and artist work space has quickly become a heated neighborhood controversy.

On one side is a group of longtime residents of Dukes County avenue and the surrounding area who are proud of their largely blue-collar neighborhood. On the other is a group of town and Island officials touting a dense plan to redevelop property that is the site of the first African-American church on the Island.

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Commission Okays Bradley Square Plan For Housing, Art Studios, Preservation
Jim Hickey

Despite lingering concerns about the size, density and effect on a residential neighborhood, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission on Thursday approved the multifaceted Bradley Square project at the corner of Dukes County and Masonic avenues in Oak Bluffs by a nearly unanimous vote.

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Treasure Buried Under Decades of Dust; Denniston Treasures Go to Museum
Alexander Trowbridge

Linsey Lee emerged from what was once the Vineyard’s first African American church last week peeling a respirator from her face. By her count, she had spent more than 150 hours in the Bradley Memorial Church in Oak Bluffs, and the mask stood as a shield between her and decades of dust.

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