Dahlgren Chapel

In the center of Main Campus, tucked behind Healy Hall, is Dahlgren Chapel of the Sacred Heart, known familiarly around campus as Dahlgren Chapel. The ninth building to be built on campus, Dahlgren became the University’s first building named after a non-Jesuit and the first building fully funded by external donations.1, 2

Background

In 1891, Elizabeth Drexel Dahlgren, wife of John Vinton Dahlgren (C '88, L '91), approached then University President Fr. Richards about building a small chapel as a memorial to their infant son who had recently passed away. Fr. Richards proposed a larger chapel that could serve as a more formal place of worship for the University and provide a final resting place for the family. The Dahlgrens agreed and provided $10,000 for the chapel’s construction.3

During construction, the Dahlgren’s infant son, Joseph Drexel Dahlgren, lay temporarily in the Jesuit Community Cemetery before his remains could be placed in the newly constructed crypt under the chapel.

Design and features

Henry Simpson of Barry & Simpson, who had studied the architecture of ancient English abbeys, monasteries, and churches, designed Dahlgren in the style of 13th century English cathedrals with a brick facade lined with Indiana limestone trimming. The laying of the cornerstone occurred in formal ceremony celebrated by Cardinal James Gibbons on May 18, 1892. Inside the cornerstone is a copper box containing a copy of the Georgetown College Journal, the Baltimore Sun, the Church News, the Washington Post, the Evening Star, the New York Herald, (all describing the chapel), a photograph of Mr. and Mrs. Dahlgren, a catalogue of Georgetown University, coins from 1892, and relics of saints gifted by the Convent of the Visitation.4, 5

Dahlgren was officially consecrated on June 9, 1893. The chapel’s elegant white marble altar was lit by the immense stained glass window over it. The window features five panels with three rose openings above them. The central panel depicts Jesus showing the Sacred heart. The Virgin Mary is to his left, and St. Joseph is on his right. The extreme panels depict the patron saints of John and Elizabeth Dahlgren, St. John the Evangelist and St. Elizabeth of Hungary. Above the panels, in the center rose are the letters IHS, a symbolic representation of Jesus. The center rose is flanked by St. Margaret Mary, founder of the devotion to the Sacred Heart, and her confessor, Fr. Claude de La Colombière. The window over the chapel’s entrance depicts Papal Coat of Arms for Pope Leo XIII, the Pope when Dahlgren was consecrated. The chapel bell was originally cast in 1814 and came from the Calvert Mansion in Riverdale, Maryland.6

In 1894, the University added windows in the South transept representing the virtues of St. Elizabeth of Hungary: charity, humility, and victory and windows in the North transept dedicated to St. John. In 1898, the University added the nave windows. The windows on the left depict St. More, St. Helena, and St. Ignatius, founder of the Jesuits. The windows on the right depict St. Louis of France, St. Joan of Arc, and St. Aloysius Gonzaga. Mayer & Co. of Munich, Germany created all of these stained glass windows. In the back are two additional windows made by John Boertliero & Associates of Baltimore showing John Henry Newman and St. Isaac Jogues, martyred missionaries to the Iroquois and Huron Indians.7, 8

Renovations

By the 1950s, the Chapel was almost completely covered with ivy, hiding the rose window and damaging the brick facade. John Vinton Dahlgren II, the son of the chapel’s original benefactors, agreed to an estimated $500,000 renovation of the chapel and the family crypt, but only general repairs and maintenance at an estimated $31,000 were completed. In the 1960, Frederick Barth, S.J., who maintained Jesuit buildings, repainted Dahlgren’s interior. In 1964, John Vinton Dahlgren II died and left $1.6 million to the University for the construction of a new chapel. Working closely with Dahlgren’s widow, President Henle was able to modify the will and use the funds to finance campus chaplains and support Campus Ministry.

In the aftermath of the Second Vatican Counsel, Dahlgren underwent an extensive renovation beginning in 1975. The marble altar, some of which was reserved for a throne for the tabernacle, was replaced with a new altar in the style of a wooden platform. The University installed a new single level slate floor and replaced the pews with single interlocking chairs. The stations of the cross were replaced with a simpler design by Dolf Ell.9, 10 The old organ was moved to Copley Hall’s St. William’s Chapel, and a new pipe organ took its place. In 1988, the University renovated Dahlgren Quadrangle, the area outside the chapel’s main entrance, installing a brick and marble patio with a fountain in the center.11, 12

In 2007, over a year after two long cracks appeared in the chapel’s east wall, a large chunk of plaster fell, beginning discussions of an extensive restoration.13, 14 In 2009, the University removed the rose window to protect the glass after discovering that the walls around the window were bowing. The official restoration began in 2011, beginning with foundational repairs and waterproofing. Interior work included the refurbishing and reinstalling of the stained glass windows, new seating, and improvements to the altar, sound, and lighting.15, 16 L. Francis III (CAS ’75, LAW ’78) and Kathleen (SFS ’77) Rooney donated $6 million, and many others who had met at Georgetown and married in Dahlgren also contributed towards the estimated $7.5 million restoration.17, 18

Organ and weddings

In 2014, the Lewnowski family donated a new custom-made pipe organ. Schoenstein & Co. of San Francisco spent more than a year preparing the organ for the chapel. The new organ was installed in the beginning of Dahlgren for better acoustics but required the addition of two wooden columns able to support the organ’s pipes, which collectively weigh more than 1000 pounds. The removal of the old organ from the back of the chapel freed up space for additional seating.19, 20

Dahlgren continues to host most of the fifty to seventy weddings at Georgetown each year, with as many as four weddings packed in a single Saturday in the fall.21, 22

• 1William C. McFadden. “Georgetown at Two Hundred: Faculty Reflections on the Building’s Future.” Georgetown University Press, 1990, p.342.
• 2William C. McFadden. “Georgetown at Two Hundred: Faculty Reflections on the Building’s Future.” Georgetown University Press, 1990, p.342.
• 3“Dahlgren Tradition: Change.” The Hoya. 30 Jan. 1976, p.4.
• 4“The Dahlgren Memorial Chapel.” Georgetown College Journal, Vol. 20 No.8. May 1892, pp.175-77.
• 5“The Dahlgren Memorial Chapel.” Georgetown College Journal, Vol. 20 No.8. May 1892, pp.175-77.
• 6“Dahlgren Tradition: Change.” The Hoya. 30 Jan. 1976, p.4.
• 7Francis X. Ballman, "Dahlgren Chapel," Building Outlines Campus Buildings, 1789 – 1995, Father Lawrence Hurley Memorial Edition, Francis X. Ballmann and the Division of Facilities, 1995, pp.13-15.
• 8Francis X. Ballman, "Dahlgren Chapel," Building Outlines Campus Buildings, 1789 – 1995, Father Lawrence Hurley Memorial Edition, Francis X. Ballmann and the Division of Facilities, 1995, pp.13-15.
• 9“Dahlgren Tradition: Change,” p.4.
• 10“Dahlgren Tradition: Change,” p.4.
• 11Georgetown University (Washington, DC), Ye Domesday Booke, 1988, p.212.
• 12Georgetown University (Washington, DC), Ye Domesday Booke, 1988, p.212.
• 13 Lauren Zelt. “Dahlgren Reopening This Weekend.” The Hoya. 21 Sept. 2007.
• 14 Lauren Zelt. “Dahlgren Reopening This Weekend.” The Hoya. 21 Sept. 2007.
• 15Upsana Kaku. “Renovations to Dahlgren Chapel to Begin.” The Hoya. 22 Aug. 2011.
• 16Upsana Kaku. “Renovations to Dahlgren Chapel to Begin.” The Hoya. 22 Aug. 2011.
• 17Annie Chen. “Dahlgren Donors Remember Roots.” The Hoya. 3 Nov. 2011.
• 18Annie Chen. “Dahlgren Donors Remember Roots.” The Hoya. 3 Nov. 2011.
• 19Daniel Paradis. “New Chapel Organ to Be Completed by March.” The Hoya. 6 Feb. 2014.
• 20Daniel Paradis. “New Chapel Organ to Be Completed by March.” The Hoya. 6 Feb. 2014.
• 21Molly Cooke. “Georgetown Love Stories Unfold at Dahlgren.” The Hoya. 15 Feb. 2018.
• 22Molly Cooke. “Georgetown Love Stories Unfold at Dahlgren.” The Hoya. 15 Feb. 2018.