Scott BresslerGraham Chapel’s carvings are not gargoyles and ancient Masonic beliefs may have influenced the decision to put King Solomon on the stained glass window. Dedicated in memory of Benjamin Brown Graham (1840-1904), the chapel has gone through four organs and a series of renovations, including the installation of the balcony.
The non-gargoyles, since they do not act as rain gutters, are actually grotesques, figures of animals and flowers that protrude from a vertical surface. Graham’s rainwater amasses in hidden gutters along the roof and descends down pipes fitted into the walls.
Students are also familiar with the Chapel’s bells, which ring every 15 minutes and sometimes play songs, such as Somewhere Over the Rainbow. The carillon tunes have sounded “over the years on and off,” said James Burmeister, executive director of University relations.
“The Chapel is a critical element to the whole campus fabric,” Burmeister said.
The idea of building a University Chapel came to fruition when Christine Blair Graham, neighbor of Robert Brookings, approached the University in 1905 and offered to fund a chapel for the University in her husband’s name. Her husband, Benjamin Graham, an entrepreneur from Ohio, moved to St. Louis in 1855 and founded the Graham Paper Company, the largest papers distributor in the Midwest. The original Chapel cost $171,087.12 in total, according to an old receipt.
Despite the University’s non-religious affiliation, Brookings agreed to the Chapel and construction commenced soon after. Surprisingly, shortly after the Chapel’s inauguration, Acting Chancellor Snow remarked “until 20 years ago, attendance at this religious exercise was compulsory; since that time it has been entirely voluntary,” thus making the Chapel a center more for guest speakers, weddings, and concerts rather than for religious services.
The University laid the first Graham Chapel cornerstone in 1907 and workers dug a concrete foundation 30 feet deep to support its massive weight. The chapel was completed two years later in Nov. 1909 as the 12th building at Washington University.
Mrs. Graham surrendered her agency regarding the depictions in the stained glass windows to Brookings and architect James Jamieson, who worked for the Cope and Stewardson Company. Jamieson and Brookings, both Freemasons, may have honored ancient Masonic codes honoring King Solomon and Masonic pursuit to build the “temple of all-encompassing brotherly love,” which may explain why they chose a scene presenting the dedication of King Solomon’s Temple as the main image.
The stained glass, with King Solomon, the son of King David, in the center, is imbued with meaning. The lamp above Solomon’s head represents the moon, and the two pillars on either side of the king stand for the pillars found on Solomon’s Temple, which symbolize Boaz, King David’s great grandfather and Jachin, a high priest.
The three pillars on either side of Solomon adding up to six, may represent the six planets known to Masons, according to Jay Kempen, a former Washington University Archivist.
Many have speculated that Graham Chapel is modeled after King’s College Chapel at Cambridge University. The Cambridge Chapel, commissioned by King Henry VI in 1441, epitomizes the medieval English gothic church. Yet Jamieson dispelled the rumors in his book, “Intimate History of Washington University.”
Jamieson wrote, “The Graham Memorial Chapel is not a copy.the length and height of the University Chapel are so modest, and so magnificent in King’s’, that a comparison of the two, seem idle.”
In spite of the Chapel’s non-regal affiliation, it has fulfilled many a noble cause. Before 1921, the Chapel held freshman convocation. Red Cross Workers used the Chapel during World War I to store hospital supplies and, following World War II, professors used the Chapel as a makeshift classroom because the school’s population had substantially increased.
Today, the Chapel serves as the home for the Assembly Series, concerts and weddings. Events Coordinator Shannon Greenwell said that while couples need to sign up for weddings no more than 14 months in advance, there is no waiting list.
“We do up to three weddings a day on Saturdays or Sundays, and usually everyone can get the day they want,” Greenwell said, adding that couples of any faith can marry at the Chapel.