Danforth Chapel 50 years of faithful service
A marriage and a church half a century old
Ido
More than 4,000 couples, many of them KU students, have chosen to say those life-changing words inside Danforth Chapel since it was built 50 years ago.
Ransom and Beverly Bennett of Ottawa were among the earliest couples to get married in the chapel on Lilac Lane, just a few steps from Jayhawk Boulevard. They married on June 29, 1946, about three months after the chapel's inauguration.
For the Bennetts, the chapel's small size was perfect.
"We would either have to have a great big wedding because we knew so many people or just have the closest family," said Ransom Bennett, a 1945 graduate. "Coming back from the war, I wasn't interested in doing a gigantic wedding."
Another reason to opt for a small wedding was that, although World War II was finished, things were just starting to get back to normal said Beverly Bennett, a 1946 graduate.
Ransom came back in May 1946 from a mine sweeper in the South Pacific, where he had served as a Navy officer during the war, which left Beverly and her mother only a month to plan the wedding. The newly built chapel was perfect for the occasion.
"It was a sweet chapel," Beverly said. "It was very quiet, and the music was soft."
They did not have any wedding pictures taken, but Bevely remembers that she wore a pale aqua-green silk dress and a cocoa-colored hat made of woven straw. Her shoes matched the hat, and she wore a double-strand pearl necklace, which Ransom had given her.
It had rained in the morning, but the humid July heat was back by the time of the wedding, and Beverly was warm in her silk dress.
Ransom and Beverly went on a five-week road trip in a brand-new 1946 Chevrolet for their honeymoon. They drove through Colorado and spent a lot of time on the beaches in California.
"It was a wonderful time." Beverly said
The war had delayed Ransom's education, and he had to attend classes for one more semester after the wedding. He passed by the chapel every day, but seeing it did not remind him of the wedding.
"It was a done deal," he said smiling.
But he knew that the chapel held a special place in Beverly's heart, and for their 47th anniversary, he brought her to the chapel as a surprise.
"I got more sentimental as I got older, and I knew she'd like it," he said.
And Beverly sure liked it. As Beverly and Ransom walked through the back door of the chapel, a wedding was about to take place.
The young couple was excited to hear that the Bennetts had been married for so long, and they seemed almost more interested in talking than walking down the aisle, Ransom said.
For a different anniversary, Ransom gave Beverly a reproduction of a painting of the chapel, which she keeps it on her desk. They will celebrate their upcoming 50th anniversary at a family reunion in Colorado.
Ransom and Beverly Bennett of Ottawa were among the earliest couples to be married in Danforth Chapel after it opened in 1946. Below is a photo of the Bennettts on their honey-moon in California.
Students welcomed with open doors
The chapel is a popular wedding spot. An article in the June 28, 1946 edition of The University Daily Kansan reports that seven couples tied the knot in the chapel on June 17, 1946, which was commencement day. No weddings are planned for May 19, which is this year's commencement day, but five weddings are planned for May 18, said Ann Eversole, director of the Organizations and Activities Center, who also takes care of the chapel's scheduling.
Student groups also use the day, Eversole said.
The chapel was dedicated during a ceremony at Hoch Auditorium on April 2, 1946. All students could attend the ceremony, because classes had been rescheduled. Chancellor Deane W. Malott said in a speech that the chapel should always be open and lighted. A theft of a painting in February 1949 did not change the policy of keeping the chapel open at all times. The painting was later replaced with a reproduction.
"No act of malicious vandalism will change that policy," Malott said in a University of Kansas News Bureau press release. "Nor can such action deprive KU students of the privilege which the little chapel offers for personal meditation."
But thethes and vandalism had become too common by the mid 1960s, and the chapel was locked at night. Today, the chapel is open from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily excluding reserved times.
The Danforth legacy
William H. Danforth donated $5,000 and students, faculty and staff contributed $20,000 to build the chapel.
Documents in the University Archives show that Danforth, who helped finance the building of more than 15 chapels in the nation, hoped that the chapels would inspire students to challenge themselves.
Danforth specified that he wanted a reproduction of Heinrich Hofmann's painting *Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane* to hang in the entrance of the University's chapel. He also wanted a stone tablet with an inscription that summed up his hope that the chapel would better the lives of students.
The inscription reads: "Dedicated to the worship of God with the prayer that here, in communion with the highest, those who enter may acquire the spiritual power to aspire nobly, adventure daringly, serve humbly."
Story by Susanna Löof
Photos by Edmee Rodriguez
April 29,1996
Hilltopics
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