Christmas Carols and Their Stories
Puzzle 49 · American Carols · Page 73 in print
O Little Town of Bethlehem
Phillips Brooks had a typical Boston education, the Latin School and then Harvard. He later led Trinity Church in Boston’s Back Bay and in 1891 was elected bishop in Massachusetts.
Jump to a word
The words
Back Bay
Boston district where Trinity Church was built for Brooks.
Brooks
Phillips Brooks, the Philadelphia rector who wrote the carol in 1868.
Church Porch
Huntington’s 1874 Sunday-school hymnbook that printed the carol and named its tune.
Common Meter
The ballad meter of four beats alternating with three, the general scheme of the carol.
Greek Convent
Convent at the Church of the Nativity where Brooks lodged in 1865.
Grotto
The grotto under the Bethlehem church shown as the place of the Nativity.
Holy Trinity
The Philadelphia church whose Sunday school first sang the carol.
Huntington
Dr. Huntington of All Saints’, Worcester, who named the tune.
Jerusalem
City from which Brooks rode to Bethlehem in December 1865.
Latin School
Boston Latin School, where Brooks studied.
Leaflets
The leaflets on which a Philadelphia bookseller first sold the carol.
Lewis Redner
Organist of Holy Trinity, Philadelphia, who wrote the tune in 1868.
Philadelphia
City where Brooks was rector and the carol was first sung.
Saint Louis
Name of Redner’s tune, given by Dr. Huntington.
Sunday School
The Holy Trinity Sunday school for whose Christmas service the carol was written.