Stained Glass banner image

Featured Window

Window of the Month
Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

Click any image to enlarge.




Window

Building Name: Adrian College Chapel

Studio Name: Willet Hauser Architectural Glass

City: Adrian

Window Shape: 2 (rectangle)

Subject/Title of Window: Dr. Asa Mahan and Adrian College

Brief Description of Subject: The main figure is Asa Mahan, Congregational Minister and founder of Adrian College in 1859. In the finished window, the portrait is derived from the book, “The Story of Noble Devotion.” The seated figure at his desk is Harlan L. Freeman, President for twenty-three years. A flaming torch with a broken chain is symbolizing Dr. Mahan’s fight for freedom of the slaves and also his devotion in bringing the college from Leoni to Adrian. The picture of the historic North Hall is visible below Dr. Mahan’s outstretched arm. From the rich history of the college we select a few important aspects and we are using students dressed in true historic costumes to illustrate them. 1861- First Graduation. 1864 - Civil War. 1864 - First Girl Graduates. 1873 - Theological Literary Society; the symbol of Book and Stars “Sic Itur Astra”; Society Boy is Sports Costume, Physical Education. 1875 - In December, the first issue of “The Adrian College Recorder.” 1881- Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity. 1904 - The Pine Arts Department started. 1917 - First World War. 192_ - A girl to illustrate the costume. 1942 - Second World War - R.O.T.C. and W.A.C. Today - Boy and Girl in sweaters for the contemporary students. We used students to illustrate the history of Adrian instead of the traditional buildings, etc. because the college is not only buildings and records, but living history, memory, and tradition. We read in the “Story of Noble Devotion”, “Some call her memory and some tradition, and her voice is sweet with deep mysterious accords.” (George Elliot). Thus a voice from the past speaks to those who come back to Adrian from the busy mart of life.

Dr. Asa Mahan and Adrian College
Dr. Asa Mahan and Adrian College

The MSGC is a constantly evolving database. Not all the data that has been collected by volunteers has been sorted and entered. Not every building has been completely documented.

All images in the Index are either born-digital photographs of windows or buildings or are scans of slides, prints, or other published sources. These images have been provided by volunteers and the quality of the material varies widely.

If you have any questions, additions or corrections, or think you can provide better images and are willing to share them, please contact donald20@msu.edu