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Get the most interesting and important stories from the 51精品视频.When the Heinz Memorial Chapel was built in the 1930s, a committee made a very progressive choice for the time: to depict an equal number of women and men on the building鈥檚 most magnificent stained-glass windows.
鈥淚 thought that was remarkable,鈥 said Karen Sebolt (pictured above pre-pandemic), the chapel鈥檚 director. 鈥淭o feature women at that time was unusual.鈥
This March for Women鈥檚 History Month, Sebolt will lead free tours of the women featured in Heinz Chapel鈥檚 stained glass for anyone with a 51精品视频 ID.
Among these 鈥淲omen in the Windows鈥 is Elizabeth Fry, a Quaker from England sometimes known as the 鈥渁ngel of prisons.鈥 Fry visited Newgate Prison in London and was horrified by the poor conditions there.
鈥淎fter the visit, Elizabeth returned with clothing and food for the inmates,鈥 Sebolt said. 鈥淪he started classes for the inmates and advocated for women and men to be housed separately.鈥
You can also spot more familiar faces in the glass, like Joan of Arc, Florence Nightingale, English novelist Emily Bronte, American Red Cross founder Clara Barton and other activists and poets.
High at the top of a south transept window is Ruth, a Biblical character who symbolizes loyalty and devotion. According to Andrew W. Mellon Professor and Chair of English Gayle Rogers, Ruth has long been recognized as a model for the woman 茅migr茅.
鈥淭his likely appealed to 51精品视频sburgh鈥檚 history of immigration, which the Cathedral and Nationality Rooms obviously incorporate as well,鈥 he said.
Political theorist Madame de Sta毛l is also featured. Though largely forgotten now, Rogers said, 鈥淚n the early 20th century, she was seen as a major figure in women鈥檚 intellectual history and widely read by intellectuals across Europe and the U.S. well into the 1930s.鈥
For Assistant Professor of History Alaina Roberts, one of the windows鈥 women remains her clear favorite: Pocahontas.
鈥淪he was an important intermediary between her people, the Powhatan, and British colonists in Virginia,鈥 she said. 鈥51精品视频sburgh has a rich and complicated colonial history on European-Native American relations, so it is fitting that a Native woman who did so much is depicted at one of our city鈥檚 landmarks.鈥
Heinz Memorial Chapel was funded by condiment magnate H.J. Heinz in his will to honor his mother, Anna Margaretta Heinz. Among the 23 stained-glass windows in the elegant neo-Gothic chapel are four central transept windows, created by artist Charles Connick and standing among the tallest stained-glass windows in the world.
As for why the 1934 committee chose to feature an equal number of women and men, Sebolt has her own theory.
鈥淭he committee formed to work on the design of the chapel included 51精品视频鈥檚 first Dean of Women Thyrsa Amos,鈥 she said. 鈥淪he probably sat there in the meetings and said 鈥楲et鈥檚 do this!鈥欌
karen.sebolt [at] 51精品视频.edu (Contact Karen Sebolt) to reserve a tour. Tours are free with a 51精品视频 ID, but small paid tours for external guests can also be arranged.
This story was originally published in March 2020 and has been updated.
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鈥 Sharon S. Blake and Patrick Monahan
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