I had been involved with the Wright Home and Studio pretty much since square one and had just served a few months on its Board when I was elected to the Village Board in 1977.  As the Tour Center was supported by the Village and was part of the Home and Studio, I resigned my place on the Home and Studio Board to avoid conflict of interest.

When my four-year elected term was over, a number of not-for-profit organizations asked me to join their boards, but my heart and admiration for Unity Temple called out for me to get involved with UTRF.  I served nine years on the UTRF Board, several as a Vice-President, and took on the archivist portfolio on the working board.

Looking through the closet behind the speaker’s platform, I uncovered the minutes of the Church Board, correspondence between Ed Ehrman, two congregational presidents, Wright and Paul Mueller, and various contractors.  Material in the Oak Park Public Library, a grant from the Graham Foundation to pay for access and permission to publish the various drawings for Unity held by Taliesin, were all examined, and along with many discussions and collaboration with my colleague Sidney Robinson, became the basis and material for our book, THE NOBLE ROOM.

We were honored to see it in print and committed to giving 100% of the royalties to UTRF, to aid in the restoration. The book can still be purchased at www.flwunitytemple.org/store.

~ David Sokol, former UTRF board member, architectural historian and author