Marsh Chapel is a building on the campus of

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

used as the official place of worship of the school. It was named for Daniel L. Marsh, a former president of BU and a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

minister. The building is Gothic in style. While Methodism, the university's historical denomination, exerts a great influence on the chapel, it is formally

non-denominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. The term has been used in the context of various faiths, including Jainism, Baháʼí Faith, Zoro ...

. The current dean of Marsh Chapel is Rev. Dr. Robert Hill, an ordained elder in The United Methodist Church.

History

Plans for a riverside chapel at the university were made as early as 1920, when the university purchased the Charles River Campus and commissioned a master plan from architect Ralph Adams Cram. Originally, the chapel was to be complemented by the Alexander Graham Bell tower, a

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

administrative structure named for the

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

of the telephone and other innovations. The chapel was not constructed until after the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

and

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Ralph Adams Cram was selected as its architect. He designed the building in the Gothic style. The building was dedicated in 1950. Because of competition from Modernist and other architectural influences, the chapel marked the end of a period of

Collegiate Gothic Collegiate Gothic is an architectural style subgenre of Gothic Revival architecture, popular in the late-19th and early-20th centuries for college and high school buildings in the United States and Canada, and to a certain extent Europ ...

construction on American campuses.

Good Friday experiment

The chapel was the site of the

Marsh Chapel Experiment The Marsh Chapel Experiment, also called the "Good Friday Experiment", was an experiment conducted on Good Friday, April 20, 1962 at Boston University's Marsh Chapel. Walter N. Pahnke, a graduate student in theology at Harvard Divinity School, d ...

on Good Friday in 1962. Researchers studying human thought included Walter Pahnke;

Timothy Leary Timothy Francis Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) was an American psychologist and author known for his strong advocacy of psychedelic drugs. Evaluations of Leary are polarized, ranging from "bold oracle" to "publicity hound". Accordin ...

, a Harvard professor and later psychedelic guru; and Richard Alpert (who would later become known as Ram Dass).

Influence on Civil Rights Movement

Between 1953 and 1965, African-American

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

Howard Thurman presided the chapel as its dean. Thurman exerted an enormous influence on the work of Civil Rights Movement leader

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

, who studied at Boston University.

Other notable figures associated with Marsh Chapel

* Robert Cummings Neville, one of the Boston Confucians, served as a dean of the chapel

References

{{Coord, 42.3507, -71.1064, region:US-MA, display=title Buildings at Boston University University and college chapels in the United States Religious buildings and structures in Boston