Danforth Chapels
The foundation's first requirement was that each chapel include religious (predominantly Christian) images, such as Heinrich Hoffman's Christ in the Garden.
[4] The second requirement was that each include a plaque with an inscription:Dedicated to the worship of God with the prayer that here in the communion with the highest those who enter may acquire the spiritual power to aspire nobly, adventure daringly, serve humbly.
Three chapels (at North Carolina State University,[7] Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School,[8] and Wartburg College[9]) have been demolished to make room for other buildings.
William Danforth was one of four progressive leaders who founded the American Youth Foundation[11] and established the first of its two camps—Camp Miniwanca—in Shelby, Michigan.
[4] (Danforth's influence is evident in the American Youth Foundation's logo, similar to that of the Ralston Purina Corporation, and the vision statement—"Aspire Nobly • Adventure Daringly • Serve Humbly"[10]—is iterated in the Miniwanca archives of the original founders' newsletters to campers, The Founders-Four Folder.
[10]) These founders focused on a Christian perspective but the youth foundation has shifted to accept a variety of faiths.
[16] The founder of the American Youth Foundation describes the chapel in a published manual: Come with me to the little stone Chapel that stands on the dune-side at Miniwanca —Ruggedly plain, masoned of stone from nearby fields, harmoniously it blends with the soft foliage of surrounding woods; —Arched doors and windows, and a tower d [sic] roof add grace and beauty to its symmetric lines; —Roof beams, hand hewn, plain seats of oak, and rough tiled floor give strength and dignity within; —On raised altar, plain built and strong, there stands The Cross, illumed by candle flame on right and left; —And just above, a dossal of blood red hue, to bring relief to wide expanse of solid wall;
[19] The Berea Danforth Chapel was designed by architects James P. Jamieson, George Spearl, and Charles Cellarius.
[18] The stones represent victories throughout the world[20] and include stones from Abraham Lincoln's Tomb in Springfield, Illinois; Washington Monument in Washington, DC; the palace of King Sargon II in Khorsabad, Iraq; Omi, Japan; Canterbury Cathedral in Scotland; the Old Wall in South Korea (Fortress Wall of Seoul); the Roman Forum in Italy; Nazareth, Israel (from the vicinity of Christ's carpenter shop); India from Mahatma Gandhi; Liddar Valley in Kashmir, India; marble from North Korea; and Mount Danforth in Antarctica.
[21] The chapel, a part of the Berea Campus Christian Center,[22][23] serves as a place for meditation, weddings, memorial services, and small concerts.
[31] In 2008, Arizona State University celebrated the Danforth Chapel's 60 years by inviting the first chapel organist Jean Reaves-Clark, the first groom Colonel Billie Stephens (who married Dorothy McKenzie in 1948), and a Danforth Foundation "Danny Grad" Genie Hopper Zavaleta (1948 graduate) to be part of the event.
The Montana State College Danforth Chapel was built outside the campus to protect meditation privacy.
[9][40] The chapel's glass windows are memorials to Americans who lost their lives during World War II.
[42] The chapel is a simple brick building with red carpeting, oak pews, and a small round window.
[47] Bethesda General Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, was founded in 1889 by Dr. Edward W. Saunders and Mr. and Mrs. Roger Hayne as a refuge for orphaned and abandoned children.
[49] The chapel is located on the first floor of the hospital and is intended to be a quiet place of meditation for patients and their families.
[4][56] The chapel was designed with a steep roof to handle the large amounts of snow that fall in South Dakota.
[67] Designed by architect Edward C. Miller, the Danforth Chapel in Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia, was built in 1955.
[7] In 1975, the chapel and the YMCA King Religious Center were leveled to make room for the new College of Design.
[71] The chapel is to view the bank of Sunnen Lake at YMCA camps Lakewood and the Trout Lodge near Potosi, Missouri.
[74] The chapel was red brick and two stories high, designed to enable all members of Country Day School to attend events in one location.
