The Sophia Astley Kirkpatrick Memorial Chapel, known as Kirkpatrick Chapel, is the chapel to

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

and located on the university's main campus in

New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Queens Campus. Built in 1872 when Rutgers was a small, private

liberal arts college A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on Undergraduate education, undergraduate study in the Liberal arts education, liberal arts of humanities and science. Such colleges aim to impart ...

, the chapel was designed by architect

Henry Janeway Hardenbergh Henry Janeway Hardenbergh (February 6, 1847 – March 13, 1918) was an American architect, best known for his hotels and apartment buildings, and as a "master of a new building form — the skyscraper." He worked three times with Edward Clark, ...

at the beginning of his career. Hardenbergh, a native of New Brunswick, was the great-great-grandson of Rutgers' first president, the Rev. Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh. It was the third of three projects that Hardenbergh designed for the college. Kirkpatrick Chapel was named in honour of Sophia Astley Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick was the wife of

Littleton Kirkpatrick Littleton Kirkpatrick (October 19, 1797 – August 15, 1859) was an American Whig Party politician, who represented in the United States House of Representatives for one term from 1853 to 1855. He was the son of Andrew Kirkpatrick and th ...

, a local attorney and politician who was a member of the board of trustees of Rutgers College from 1841 until his death in 1859. When Sophia Kirkpatrick died in 1871, Rutgers was named as the residuary

legatee A legatee, in the law of wills, is any individual or organization bequeathed any portion of a testator's estate. Usage Depending upon local custom, legatees may be called "devisees". Traditionally, "legatees" took personal property under will a ...

of her

estate Estate or The Estate may refer to: Law * Estate (law), a term in common law for a person's property, entitlements and obligations * Estates of the realm, a broad social category in the histories of certain countries. ** The Estates, representativ ...

. A bequest of $61,054.57 (2013: US$1,174,079.38) from her estate funded the construction of the chapel. According to Rutgers, this marked the first time in New Jersey history that an institution became a direct

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

to an estate. The chapel was designed in the High Victorian

Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an 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 of the 19th century ...

that was popular at the middle of the nineteenth century in the United States. Hardenbergh's design incorporated features common to fourteenth-century German and English Gothic churches. According to the

New Jersey Historic Trust The New Jersey Historic Trust was created by the State of New Jersey in 1967 to preserve New Jersey's historic resources. The Historic Trust's executive director is Dorothy P. Guzzo. Funding programs available through the New Jersey Historic Tru ...

, the chapel's

stained glass window Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

s feature "some of the first opalescent and multicolored sheet glass manufactured in America." Four of the chapel's windows were created by the studios of

Louis Comfort Tiffany Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 – January 17, 1933) was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is associated with the art nouveauLander, David"The Buyable ...

. Kirkpatrick Chapel is a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic dist ...

of the Queens Campus Historic District, which was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on July 2, 1973. For its first 30 years, the chapel was used as a college library and for holding daily chapel services. Although Rutgers was founded as a private college affiliated with the

Dutch Reformed The Dutch Reformed Church (, , abbreviated NHK ) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the traditional denomination of the Dutch royal fami ...

faith, today, it is a state university and nonsectarian. The chapel is available to students, alumni, and faculty of all faiths, and a variety of services are held throughout the academic term. It is also used for university events including convocation, concerts, alumni and faculty weddings, funerals, and lectures by prominent intellectuals and world leaders.

History

The Kirkpatrick family and Rutgers

When Sophia Astley Kirkpatrick (1802–1871) died on March 6, 1871, at the age of 68, she named

Rutgers College Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

as her estate's residuary

.
Addresses at the inauguration of Austin Scott, Ph.D. as President of Rutgers College, New Brunswick, N.J. Wednesday February 4th, 1891
''. (New Brunswick, Rutgers College, 1891). At that time, Rutgers was a small,

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Dutch Reformed The Dutch Reformed Church (, , abbreviated NHK ) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the traditional denomination of the Dutch royal fami ...

faith Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, faith is " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, faith has multiple definitions, inc ...

. Founded in 1766 as Queen's College, Rutgers is the eighth-oldest institution of higher education established in the United States. It was one of nine colleges founded in the American colonies before the Revolutionary War.Stoeckel, Althea
"Presidents, professors, and politics: the colonial colleges and the American revolution"
, ''Conspectus of History'' (1976) 1(3):45–56. Rutgers' website states that this bequest from Sophia Kirkpatrick's will was the first time in New Jersey legal history that an institution became a direct heir to an estate. Sophia was the daughter of wealthy merchant and land investor Thomas Astley of Philadelphia. She married

(1797–1859) on October 18, 1832.Wilson, James Grant.
Memorials of Andrew Kirkpatrick, and his wife Jane Bayard
''. (New York: privately published, 1870). Littleton, an attorney and 1815 graduate of

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

, was a member of a wealthy, prominent New Brunswick family and pursued a career in politics. They did not have any children.Kirkpatrick, Jacob (Rev.) and Hale, George. ''The Kirkpatrick Memorial: Or, Biographical Sketches of Father and Son and a Selection from the Sermons of the Rev. Jacob Kirkpatrick, Jr.'' (Philadelphia: Westcott & Thomson, 1867). During his career, Littleton Kirkpatrick was elected as county surrogate, mayor of New Brunswick, and as a Whig Party member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

during the Twenty-Eighth Congress (1843–1845).United States Congress
"Kirkpatrick, Littleton, (1797–1859)"
in ''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–present'' (online edition). Retrieved September 1, 2013. He served as a trustee of Rutgers College for 18 years from 1841 until his death in 1859.Rutgers College and Raven, John Howard (Rev.) (compiler).
Catalogue of the Officers and Alumni of Rutgers College (originally Queen's College) in New Brunswick, N.J., 1766–1916
'. (Trenton, New Jersey: State Gazette Publishing Company, 1916). Sophia remained in New Brunswick after her husband's death. A devoted member of the city's First Presbyterian Church, she was later described as having "adorned her profession by her Christian graces and her many deeds of charity and beneficence to the needy and suffering." Littleton Kirkpatrick was the son of Jane Bayard and Judge Andrew Kirkpatrick who served as Chief Justice of the

New Jersey Supreme Court The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases cha ...

. He was grandson of Philadelphia merchant and statesman Colonel

John Bayard John Bubenheim Bayard (11 August 1738 – 7 January 1807) was a merchant, soldier, and statesman from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He achieved the rank of colonel while serving with the Continental Army, and was a delegate for Pennsylvania t ...

(1738–1807) who served as speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly, delegate to the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

, judge, mayor of New Brunswick, and was a Revolutionary War hero. The Kirkpatrick family had a long association with Queen's College and subsequently with Rutgers.
The John Bogart Letters: Forty-two Letters written to John Bogart of Queen’s College now Rutgers College and Five Letters written by him, 1776–1782
'. (New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers College Publications, 1914); citing ''Somerset County Historical Quarterly''. 1(4):250, and ''Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society'', 2nd Series, II:79. Several members of the family served as trustees or received degrees from the college, including the following: * Littleton's father, Andrew Kirkpatrick (1756–1831), a 1775 graduate of Princeton, taught at the Queen's College Grammar School in 1782, received an honorary Masters (A.M.) from Queen's College in 1783, and served as a trustee from 1782 to 1809. * Littleton's brother, John Bayard Kirkpatrick, Esq. (1795–1864), was an 1815 graduate of Rutgers when it was Queen's College. * Littleton's nephew, Andrew Kirkpatrick (1844–1904), studied at Rutgers from 1860 to 1862 before receiving a bachelor's degree from

Union College Union College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the s ...

in 1863. * Another nephew, John Bayard Kirkpatrick, Jr. (1844–1912), received a bachelor's degree in 1866 and later served as college trustee (1892–1912). * John Bayard Kirkpatrick III (1878–1961) received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1900.

Hardenbergh's design and construction

In 1870, the trustees of Rutgers College had decided to build a college chapel when the funds became available to do so.Demarest, William Henry Steele (Rev.). ''History of Rutgers College: 1776–1924''. (New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers College, 1924).David Murray (compiler). ''A Memorial of Rev. William Henry Campbell, D.D., LL.D. Late President of Rutgers College''. (New Brunswick, New Jersey: Trustees of Rutgers College, 1894), 47. Previously, chapel services had been held inside Old Queen's, but as the student body expanded in the 1850s and 1860s a larger space was needed to accommodate such events. With the death of Sophia Astley Kirkpatrick in 1871 and Rutgers receiving $61,054.57 (2013: US$1,174,079.38) from her estate, the trustees directed those funds to the building of a university chapel.McCormick, Richard P. ''Rutgers: a Bicentennial History''. (New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1966). A young architect who had recently completed his apprenticeship and started his own firm,

(1847–1918), was hired by the trustees in 1870 to design an addition to the Rutgers College Grammar School then housed in

Alexander Johnston Hall Alexander Johnston Hall is a historic building located on the corner of Somerset Street and College Avenue, New Brunswick, New Jersey, New Brunswick in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, New Jersey and is the second oldest building on ...

located across from the Queen's Campus on College Avenue. He charged the college $312 for his work.Glovin, Bill. "Castles in the Air" in ''Rutgers Magazine'' (Spring 2006), 35–41. Born and raised in New Brunswick, Hardenbergh received the contract through family connections. His great-great-grandfather, the Rev. Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh (1735–1790), was Rutgers' first president and one of its founders. Further, several members of his family were graduates, trustees, or otherwise associated with the school through the nineteenth century.Staff
"H. J. Hardenberg, Architect, is Dead"
in ''The New York Times'' (March 14, 1918). Retrieved September 5, 2013. His grandfather, Rev. Jacob Janeway served as vice president of the college, and turned down the post of president in 1840. Hardenbergh studied for five years as an apprentice draftsman under German-American architect

Detlef Lienau Detlef Lienau (17 February 1818 – 29 August 1887) was a German architect born in Holstein. He is credited with having introduced the Rococo, French style to American building construction, notably the mansard roof and all its decorative flourish ...

. Lienau was also connected with projects in the city of New Brunswick and later designed the Gardner A. Sage Library (1875) on the campus of

New Brunswick Theological Seminary New Brunswick Theological Seminary is a seminary of the Reformed Church in America (RCA), a mainline Protestant denomination in Canada and the United States that follows the theological tradition and Christian practice of John Calvin. It was fo ...

after Hardenbergh's earlier design for the seminary's Suydam Hall, built in 1873.New Brunswick Theological Seminary
Gardner A. Sage Library
. Retrieved August 12, 2013. After completing the addition to Alexander Johnston Hall in 1870, Hardenbergh was hired to design 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 ...

-style Geological Hall that was erected in 1872 on the south side of Old Queen's; the hall was built with funds Rutgers had received from the federal government in becoming New Jersey's

land grant college A land-grant university (also called land-grant college or land-grant institution) is an institution of higher education in the United States designated by a state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890, or a beneficiary ...

and from the university's first fundraising campaign. The new chapel, designed by Hardenbergh to complement the Geological Hall,Regan, Timothy E. ''New Brunswick''. (Arcadia Publishing, 2003), 41. would be built on

Old Queens Old Queens is the oldest extant building at Rutgers University and is the symbolic heart of the university's campus in New Brunswick in Middlesex County, New Jersey in the United States. Rutgers, the eighth-oldest college in the United States, w ...

north side. Kirkpatrick Chapel was the third of three projects that Hardenbergh designed for Rutgers College. Hardenbergh was at the beginning of his career, and later would design several hotels and skyscrapers in American cities, including designing New York City's

Plaza Hotel The Plaza Hotel (also known as The Plaza) is a luxury hotel and condominium apartment building in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is located on the western side of Grand Army Plaza, after which it is named, just west of Fifth Avenue, ...

and the

Dakota Building The Dakota, also known as the Dakota Apartments, is a cooperative apartment building at 1 West 72nd Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The Dakota was constructed between 1880 and 1884 in the German Rena ...

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

among other Edwardian-period buildings. After his death in 1918, ''Architectural Record'' celebrated Hardenbergh as "one of the most august and inspiring figures that American architecture has produced."Bach, Richard F
"Notes and Comments; Henry Janeway Hardenbergh"
in ''The Architectural Record'', 44(1) (July 1918) Kirkpatrick Chapel was erected on a hilltop on which

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...

, then an artillery captain commanding sixty men of the

New York Provincial Company of Artillery During the American Revolutionary War, the New York Provincial Company of Artillery was created by the New York Provincial Congress in 1776 to defend New York City from British attack. History Revolution The revolutionary government of the pro ...

, was thought to have placed his cannons to cover the retreat of

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

's forces after the British occupation of New York. After the British victory in taking Fort Washington in November 1776, Washington's forces retreated across New Jersey and into Pennsylvania. Hamilton's battery protected the forces as they crossed the Raritan River and passed through New Brunswick in 1776. British forces commanded by Lieutenant General

Lord Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805) was a British Army officer, Whigs (British political party), Whig politician and colonial administrator. In the United States and United Kingdom, he is best kn ...

under orders from Lieutenant General

William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe, (10 August 1729 – 12 July 1814), was a British Army officer who rose to become Commander-in-Chief of British land forces in the Colonies during the American War of Independence. Howe was one of three broth ...

pursued Washington as far as New Brunswick.Barr, Michael C. and Wilkens, Edward. (1973). Retrieved September 5, 2013. A historic marker erected as a gift of the Class of 1899 is located next to the chapel, though a more accurate marker is located near the Rutgers Academic Building. Kirkpatrick Chapel was completed at a cost of $52,204.57 (2013: US$1,003,893.88), and dedicated on December 3, 1873. The chapel, seating 350 people, occupied the front section of the present building. The rear of the building had lecture rooms, the office of the college president, a meeting room for the trustees on the first floor, and a library on the second floor.Lewis, Joseph Volney.
Rutgers College: The Celebration of the One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of Its Founding as Queen's College, 1766-1916
'. (New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers College, 1917) In August 1916, workmen began to convert Kirkpatrick Chapel into one large assembly room to be used exclusively as the college's chapel. William P. Hardenbergh, the brother of the architect Henry J. Hardenbergh, donated $10,000 (2013: US$212,800) for this purpose in honour of his ancestor who served as the college's first president. Work proceeded quickly and was completed in two months before the college's planned 150th anniversary celebrations scheduled in October. The inner partitions that separated the chapel from the former library and other rooms were removed. The removal of the partitions expanded the capacity of the chapel from 350 persons to 800. However, current fire codes limit capacity to 650.

As the college chapel (1873–present)

For its first fifty years, Kirkpatrick Chapel was used for daily worship services by the Rutgers College student body. By 1926, the increasing size of the student body had forced Rutgers to stop daily mandatory chapel services and hold services for underclassmen on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; and for upperclassman on Tuesday and Thursday. Within a few years, continued growth in the student body reduced that schedule to each class meeting in chapel only one day per week. Sunday chapel services were attended by all students who chose to remain on campus for the weekend. Kirkpatrick Chapel is one of two college chapels on Rutgers' New Brunswick campuses. The other,

Voorhees Chapel The Voorhees Chapel on the University of Jamestown campus in Jamestown, North Dakota, was built in 1917. It was designed by architect Barend H. Kroeze in Collegiate Gothic style. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places ...

, was built in 1925 after a donation from Elizabeth Rodman Voorhees to the New Jersey College for Women, later Douglass College, which was later merged into Rutgers. After Rutgers transitioned from a private church-affiliated college to a non-sectarian public university after World War II, the role of the chapel transitioned to less frequent worship services and religious use to providing a venue for the university's special events—including convocations, lectures, programs, and classes. Despite this transition, the chapel still has a place in the continuing traditions of the university. Since 1876, graduating classes would have a stone on the exterior of the chapel carved with their class year. Early classes chose the stone while today, new classes engrave stones that located next to the class that graduated 50 years before. Further, the chapel is frequently booked for weddings, baptisms, memorial services and concerts. The university's 50-member Kirkpatrick Choir, the all-male Rutgers University Glee Club, and other musical groups at the university's

Mason Gross School of the Arts Mason Gross School of the Arts ("Mason Gross" or "MGSA") is the arts conservatory at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Mason Gross offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in art, design, dance, filmmaking, music, and theater. Ma ...

frequently use the chapel for concerts.

As the college library (1873–1903)

Kirkpatrick Chapel Library Rutgers c1890s

According to Demarest, after the building was completed, college president William Henry Campbell was charged with raising $3,000 to acquire reference books for the library.Demarest, William Henry Steele (Rev.). "History of the Library" in ''Journal of the Rutgers University Library'', Volume 1, No. 1 (1937) 1-. An 1876 survey by the U.S. Bureau of Education reported that Rutgers held 6,814 volumes in its college library and 3,800 in libraries of its two student literary societies—the

Peithessophian Society The Peithessophian Society of Rutgers College (or Peitho) was a student literary and debating society founded in 1825 at Rutgers College (later Rutgers University) in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Founded by Professor James Spencer Canon after Rutger ...

and

Philoclean Society The Philoclean Society at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey was one of the oldest collegiate literary societies in the United States, and among the oldest student organizations at Rutgers University. Founded in 1825, the society ...

.Perrone, Fernanda
"Voorhees Hall: Rutgers' First Modern Library"
in ''Journal of the Rutgers University Libraries'', Volume 61 (2005), 1-27. In 1884, President Merrill Gates appointed a recent alumnus then serving as the college's registrar, treasurer, and faculty secretary—Irving S. Upson (A.B. 1881)—to take on additional responsibilities as librarian. Upson agreed "to devote at least one hour a day to library work, for which he received a stipend of $15 a month, out of which he paid an assistant $2.50 per week. At this time, the library was open daily from 8:00 to 8:40 A.M., noon to 12:30 P.M., and 2:00 to 4:30 P.M." Upson increased the holdings by 21,000 volumes before informing the president and trustees in 1894 that the library was inadequate to house the collection. The trustees feared that the collection posed a fire hazard or would collapse the floor of the second-floor library. By 1903 the library in Kirkpatrick Chapel housed 45,000 books that were "crowded on the shelves, many hid behind others, and piled on the floor" and that the library was fast becoming too small to accommodate. After reading of the college's effort to build a new library in a Reformed Church publication, Ralph Voorhees and his wife Elizabeth Rodman Voorhees contacted president

Austin Scott James Austin Scott (born December 10, 1969) is an American politician who has been the U.S. representative for . Scott served as a Republican member of the Georgia House of Representatives before being elected to the U.S. House. He is the longe ...

for the library plans and an estimate of construction costs. Voorhees and his wife, whose wealth came as an inheritance from her family's shipping and importing business, donated $59,000 (2013: US$1,552,880) to erect a new library. $5,000 (2013: US$131,600) was added to this total from other donors to furnish the new building. The new library, called Voorhees Hall, was built on land donated by James Nielson behind Kirkpatrick Chapel that began to extend the college campus west. Voorhees Hall was dedicated on November 10, 1903—the 140th anniversary of the signing of the college's charter—and served as the school's main library until the Archibald S. Alexander Library opened in 1956. Voorhees, who was fully blind, gave a speech and was awarded an

honorary An honorary position is one given as an honor, with no duties attached, and without payment. Other uses include: * Honorary Academy Award, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, United States * Honorary Aryan, a status in Nazi Germany ...

degree at the dedication ceremony.

Notable events

* On May 6, 1881, the second intercollegiate forensic debate was held at Kirkpatrick Chapel between the Peithessophian Society of Rutgers and the

Philomathean Society Philomathean Society of the University of Pennsylvania is a collegiate literary society, the oldest student group at the university, and the oldest continuously-existing collegiate literary society in the United States.Columbia University's ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

on the topic of whether

voting rights Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in ...

and

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

should be limited or denied by any requirement other than age. The team from Rutgers won the debate. The first intercollegiate debate took place the night before between societies at

Illinois College Illinois College is a private liberal arts college in Jacksonville, Illinois. It is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church (USA). It was the second college founded in Illinois but the first to grant a degree (in ...

and Knox College. * In 1957, American poet

Robert Frost Robert Lee Frost (March26, 1874January29, 1963) was an American poet. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American Colloquialism, colloquial speech, Frost frequently wrote about settings from rural life in New E ...

gave a poetry reading at the chapel, after an invitation by Rutgers English professor and poet

John Ciardi John Anthony Ciardi ( ; ; June 24, 1916 – March 30, 1986) was an American poet, translator, and etymologist. While primarily known as a poet and translator of Dante's ''Divine Comedy'', he also wrote several volumes of children's poetry, pursu ...

. * In a special ceremony held in the chapel on June 28, 1981, Rutgers belatedly presented to Queen

Beatrix Beatrix is a Latin feminine given name, most likely derived from ''Viatrix'', a feminine form of the Late Latin name ''Viator'' which meant "voyager, traveller" and later influenced in spelling by association with the Latin word ''beatus'' or "ble ...

a 1941 honorary

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

(LL.D.) degree that the university granted to her grandmother, Queen

Wilhelmina of the Netherlands Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was List of monarchs of the Netherlands, Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, making her the longest- ...

, for her bravery at the onset of

World War II 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 ...

during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.

Architecture

Kirkpatrick Chapel was designed to complement the Gothic Revival brownstone exterior masonry of Geology Hall which was constructed the year before of New Jersey brownstone after Hardenbergh's earlier proposal for brick was found to be prohibitively expensive and overbudget.Hawes, George W., et al. for the U.S. Department of the Interior, Census Office. "Report on Building stones of the United States and Statistics of the Quarry Industry for 1880" from ''Final Report on the Tenth Census'', Volume 10. (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1884), 310. Brownstone is a durable reddish-brown sandstone used for many houses and buildings in New York City and New Jersey, including Old Queen's, Geology Hall, and Kirkpatrick Chapel. Brownstone and similar materials, known as freestone, were popular for constructing stone buildings because the properties of the rock allowed it to be worked freely in every direction instead of having to be cut in one direction along a grain. In his design for the chapel, Hardenbergh attempted a "restrained approach to Gothic architecture" that refrained from the excesses ("fripperies") of typical examples of Victorian Gothic. The facade has a porch with three archways and buttresses described in the ''Architectural Record'' of 1918 as being suggestive of German Gothic. It has

lancet windows A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a sharp pointed arch at its top. This arch may or may not be a steep lancet arch (in which the compass centres for drawing the arch fall outside the opening). It acquired the "lancet" name from its rese ...

and an appearance described in the application for inclusion on the National Register as "similar to an English country church". Internally, the chapel has a nave and aisles with the arcade supported on slender iron columns. The roof is of open timber in black walnut and stained pine. Similarly, the former library that is presently part of the expanded chapel (as of 1916) was "finished with open-timbered roof in the native wood."Doolittle, T. S. “Rutgers College” in Richardson, Charles Francis; and Clark, Henry Alden (editors). ''The College Book''. (Boston: Houghton, Osgood and Company; Cambridge: The Riverside Press, 1878), 164. Both the iron columns and the walls were painted in delicate tints. The chapel was described by alumnus Michael C. Barr and architecture professor Edward Wilkens as having "a particularly graceful interior of wood" with "light, delicate proportions." Kirkpatrick Chapel was included as part of the Queen's Campus on the

New Jersey Register of Historic Places The New Jersey Register of Historic Places is the official list of historic resources of local, state, and national interest in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The program is administered by the New Jersey's state historic preservation office wit ...

on January 29, 1973, and on the

on July 2, 1973.

Fittings and furnishings

Organ

Since 1916, Kirkpatrick Chapel's services have been augmented by the force of large

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

regarded as one of the "finest classical examples of the instrument anywhere in the state."Spivey Mark
"Kirkpatrick Chapel's historic pipe organ goes silent as electronic replacement signals changing times: Mason Gross Dean: Renovation costing $4-5 million in the works; pipe organ either to be replaced or renovated"
from mycentraljersey.com (a Gannett company) (May 19, 2013). Retrieved September 3, 2013. In 1916, the daughter of Rutgers alumnus George Buckham (A.B. 1832), donated $10,000 (2013: US$212,800) to the college for a new organ in her father's memory. Her donation coincided with the observance of Rutgers' 150th anniversary that year, and the completion of a renovation to remove the partitions dividing the chapel from the former library and classrooms. Previously, an organ purchased by the class of 1866 was located in the gallery above the chapel's narthex. Built in 1916 as the "Opus 255" by the Ernest M. Skinner & Company of Boston, the organ featured 33 stops, 24 registers, 27 ranks, and 1606 pipes.Organ Historical Society — Aeolian-Skinner Archives
Specifications. Skinner Organ Co. Opus 255 (1916): New Brunswick, NJ, Rutgers University - Kirkpatrick Chapel
. Retrieved September 3, 2013. Compiled from Skinner, Ernest M. and Kinzey, Allen. ''E.M. Skinner/Aeolian-Skinner Opus List: According to Company Records with input by others, plus information on Ernest M. Skinner & Son Company'' (Richmond, Virginia: Organ Historical Society, 1997). According to Rutgers,

Skinner Skinner may refer to: People and fictional characters *Skinner (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with that surname *Skinner (profession), a person who makes a living by working with animal skins or driving mules *Skinner, a ring ...

(1866–1960) who was considered the nation's premier organ-builder in the early twentieth century, gave personal attention to the building of this organ. When the purchase of the organ was being considered in 1916, Rutgers' director of music, Howard D. McKinney (RC 1903), sought the advice of English organist

T. Tertius Noble Thomas Tertius Noble (May 5, 1867 – May 4, 1953) was an English-born organist and composer, who lived in the United States for the latter part of his career. He served as organist and choirmaster at a number of churches including Ely Cath ...

who had been installed as the organist and music director at Saint Thomas Church (Episcopal) on Fifth Avenue and 53rd Street in New York City. When it was dedicated on April 12, 1917, Noble performed an organ recital. During these years, Skinner-built organs were installed in several churches across the United States, including the chapels at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 18 ...

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

, for Saint Thomas Church and several for the

Cathedral of St. John the Divine The Cathedral of St. John the Divine (sometimes referred to as St. John's and also nicknamed St. John the Unfinished) is the cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. It is at 1047 Amsterdam Avenue in the Morningside Heights neighborhoo ...

in New York City. In 1931, chimes were added to the Opus 255 organ's ranks and some of the reeds were repaired. The organ's components were releathered in 1957. From 1958 to 1961, the organ was updated and rebuilt by the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Company, the successor to Ernest M. Skinner's company. University organist David A. Drinkwater oversaw the work as the organ—then renamed "Opus 255-C"—expanded to 59 stops, 52 ranks, and 3,059 pipes.Organ Historical Society — Aeolian-Skinner Archives
Specifications. Aeolian-Skinner Organ Co., Inc. Opus 255-C (1958): New Brunswick, NJ, Rutgers University - Kirkpatrick Chapel
. Retrieved September 3, 2013. Compiled from Skinner, Ernest M. and Kinzey, Allen. ''E.M. Skinner/Aeolian-Skinner Opus List: According to Company Records with input by others, plus information on Ernest M. Skinner & Son Company'' (Richmond, Virginia: Organ Historical Society, 1997). As of 2013, the chapel's organ has "gone silent" after several years of problems and failures and has been temporarily replaced with a state-of-the-art electronic organ. Rutgers has not decided whether it will restore the organ or replace it with a new pipe organ as the university considers the possibility of undertaking a larger restoration of the chapel. As of December 2019, a replacement organ, an Appleton Organ from 1840 had been located and purchased with intention of an inauguration concert occurring on November 11, 2019, but was later canceled and is not installed as of December 9 and its location is unknown, but a recital is meant to be held on it February 16, 2020.

Stained glass windows

Kirkpatrick Chapel 1766 Rutgers Charter Window New Brunswick NJ

Among the stained glass windows at Kirkpatrick Chapel are approximately twenty

along the chapel's side aisles that were donated by graduating classes at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (1890–1912). These windows depict their class year and phrases in

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

and

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

. Four of the chapel's windows were designed and crafted in the studios of

(1848–1933).Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey — Kirkpatrick Chapel
"Stained Glass Windows"
. Retrieved September 2, 2013.DiIonno, Mark

in ''The Star-Ledger'' (August 8, 2012). Retrieved September 2, 2013. Tiffany and Hardenbergh were acquainted through their work with the

Architectural League of New York The Architectural League of New York is a non-profit organization "for creative and intellectual work in architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construct ...

. According to the

, the windows are "some of the first opalescent and multicolored sheet glass manufactured in America." Opalescent glass, used often in

Tiffany glass Tiffany glass refers to the many and varied types of glass developed and produced from 1878 to 1929–1930 at the Tiffany Studios in New York City, by Louis Comfort Tiffany and a team of other designers, including Clara Driscoll, Agnes F. Northr ...

windows, is glass in which more than one colour is present and caused in the manufacture by fusing through two colors being laminated, or through a superficial application of metallic oxide solutions. The four windows from the Tiffany studios include those donated by the college's Class of 1899 and Class of 1900. A window depicting

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...

was donated in memory of Rutgers College sophomore Henry Janeway Weston (1877–1898) who committed suicide in 1898. According to Rutgers, this window was a gift of the Tiffany studios. Weston, the grandson of Henry Latimer Janeway (1824–1909)—a wealthy wallpaper manufacturer, Rutgers alumnus (A.B. 1844, A.M. 1847) and long-serving trustee (1862–1909)—killed himself after his family became aware of a romantic relationship with a woman that would have negatively affected his reputation. The large window in the chancel above the altar, titled "Jesus, the Teacher of the Ages", was also designed by Tiffany studios. It was donated by William P. Hardenbergh after the renovation of the chapel in 1916 and dedicated to his great-great-grandfather and the college's first president, the Rev. Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh (1735–1790). A large window over the

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of Early Christian art and architecture, early Christian and Byzantine architecture, Byzantine basilicas and Church architecture, churches consisting of the entrance or Vestibule (architecture), ve ...

(or the entrance of the chapel) and a

choir loft A choir, also sometimes called quire, is the area of a church (building), church or cathedral that provides seating for the clergy and church choir. It is in the western part of the chancel, between the nave and the Sanctuary#Sanctuary as area a ...

commemorates the signing of charter creating Queen's College in 1766 by New Jersey's last royal governor,

William Franklin William Franklin (22 February 1730 – 17 November 1813) was an American-born attorney, soldier, politician, and colonial administrator. He was the acknowledged extra-marital son of Benjamin Franklin. William Franklin was the last colonial G ...

. According to ''

Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' was the largest circulation newspaper in New Jersey. It is based in Newark, New Jersey. The newspaper ceased print publication on February 2, 2025, but continues to publish a digital edition. In 2007, ''The Star-Ledger''s ...

'' columnist Mark DiIonno, the "Charter Window" was donated by Frelinghuysen family to commemorate the 175th anniversary of the signing, and dedicated to their ancestor the Rev.

Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen (born Theodor Jakob Frelinghaus, – ) was a German-American Dutch Reformed minister, theologian and the progenitor of the Frelinghuysen family in the United States of America. Frelinghuysen is most remember ...

(1692–1747)—an early advocate for establishing the college—and his sons Rev.

Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen II Theodorus Frelinghuysen II (1724–1761) or Theodorus Frelinghuysen, Jr., was a theologian in Albany, New York. He was a member of the Frelinghuysen Family Biography He was the first-born son of Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen and Eva Terhune. He s ...

(1724–c.1760) and Rev. John Frelinghuysen (1727–1754). Rev. Frelinghuysen, his sons, and Rev. Hardenbergh were instrumental raising funds and political support for establishing the college. The windows of Kirkpatrick chapel underwent an eleven-year restoration beginning in 2004 with the chapel's

clerestory A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, a ''clerestory' ...

windows under the direction of Michael Padovan and his studio Jersey Art Stained Glass in

Frenchtown, New Jersey Frenchtown is a borough in Hunterdon County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Frenchtown is located along the banks of the Delaware River on the Hunterdon Plateau, northwest of the state capital of Trenton. As of the 2020 United States census ...

Portraits and memorial plaques

An alumnus and local attorney, Edward Sullivan Vail (1819–1889), a graduate from the class of 1839, is listed in University publications as "Collector of Portraits for Kirkpatrick Chapel", after spearheading the effort to collecting over sixty paintings portraying Rutgers presidents, prominent trustees, professors and the chapel's namesake, Sophia Astley Kirkpatrick.Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey — Kirkpatrick Chapel
Portraits in Kirkpatrick
. Retrieved September 2, 2013. Kirkpatrick, whose portrait was painted by an American artist named G. Bruecke, is the only woman among the collection. The earliest portraits date to the eighteenth century. The walls inside Kirkpatrick Chapel are adorned with memorial plaques recording the names of Rutgers graduates who died in war. In 1966, Richard P. McCormick wrote that the names of 234 men and two women associated with Rutgers who died "in the line of duty" are inscribed in the chapel's Service Book and that a number of "Gold Star scholarships" were established by the Alumni Association as a tribute. This number of alumni killed in action has increased since McCormick's tabulation was published before the conclusion of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

(1961–1975). Several more Rutgers alumni were killed in Vietnam after McCormick's 1966 tabulation, and during the

recent The Holocene () is the current geological epoch, beginning approximately 11,700 years ago. It follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene together form the Qu ...

conflicts in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

(2001–present).4 Iraq casualties are listed in Glovin, Bill. "In Harm's Way" in ''Rutgers Magazine'' (Winter 2007), 30.

References

Notes

Citations

External links

Kirkpatrick Chapel
(official website)
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkpatrick Chapel Rutgers University buildings Henry Janeway Hardenbergh buildings University and college chapels in the United States Churches completed in 1873 19th-century churches in the United States Churches in Middlesex County, New Jersey Gothic Revival church buildings in New Jersey Sandstone buildings in the United States Queens Campus, Rutgers University Historic district contributing properties in New Jersey Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey