The plaque outside the Fort Douglas Post Chapel reads:
FORT DOUGLAS POST CHAPEL
INTERFAITH CENTER
Restored through the generosity of
THE REVEREND CANNON FREDERICK QUINNEY LAWSON
and
JANET QUINNEY LAWSON
with additional support from other individuals and faith groups
The historic Fort Douglas Post Chapel was built in 1884 at a cost of $4,500. Architects designed the frame building
in Gothic Revival style, with an asymmetrical design, corner bell tower, and arched windows rarely seen on military
posts. Throughout its history, the chapel has hosted services for many faiths as well as weddings, military events,
and community gatherings.
One of the most charming and well-known structures on the historic Fort Douglas property, the Post Chapel has
been restored to serve as an interfaith center for multi-denominational use by students, campus organizations,
alumni, community groups, and friends.
Fort Douglas was operated by the U. S. Army from 1862 to 1991. During the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, this
and other Fort Douglas facilities were part of the games' Athletes Village, where Utah welcomed visitors and athletes
from around the world. Today, the fort's historic and new structures comprise Fort Douglas Heritage Commons,
a living and learning center for the University of Utah, which continues to welcome community participation.
DEDICATED 2002
This article from the University of Utah magazine, Continuum, describes the Chapel:
"When the University acquired another portion of Fort Douglas and began preparations to house Olympic athletes there, I brought one of my mother's watercolor paintings of the Fort Douglas Post Chapel to hang in my University office. As a U student taking art classes in 1954, Dorothy Ann Moyle BA'56 depicted the building from various angles in different seasons. It wasn't an assigned subject; she just liked the look of the chapel. She returned to it with her easel, brush, and paints on several occasions. The most prominent features in my painting, in which one views the chapel from the rear, are a trio of arched, lancet stained glass windows, the building's stone foundation, and the large Celtic cross (since removed) atop the church's steeple. As a youngster, I especially loved this painting with its green landscape partially obscuring the chapel's north wall.
I became aware of the building itself when I attended a colleague's wedding there in the late 1980s. Like my mother, I was drawn to the chapel's form and history. I discovered that when approached from the chapel's entrance on old Fort Douglas Boulevard, the building's corner tower has a uniquely asymmetrical "witch's hat" roof supporting the steeple. According to one history of the building, this Gothic-Revival architectural design was common throughout the country as a style for churches but was rarely used on military posts such as Fort Douglas.
How the Post Chapel came to be constructed in a once-isolated place is a unique story in its own right, provoking a consideration of the role of such expressions of faith in the founding of this country. The Utah territory's settlement came about after Brigham Young and his followers suffered a long series of religious persecutions, culminating in their forced exodus from Illinois. One cannot visit the state without becoming aware of the necessity of sacred spaces to its inhabitants. This space, in particular, has always been open to various faith communities.
The fort was established first to protect the Overland Mail Route from attack by hostile Indians. Col. Patrick E. Connor, appointed to lead this effort, also felt it was 23his duty to keep an eye on the Mormons, whose loyalty to the Union was suspect. Camp Douglas, later renamed Fort Douglas, was established in 1862 and named after the late Sen. Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois. The military outpost symbolizes the pervasive influ-ence of the federal government among the independent-minded inhabitants of the Mountain West's "Mormon Country."
The consolidation of military posts 20 years later resulted in the expansion of Fort Douglas to quarter 10 companies of infantry. Post Commander Col. Alexander McDowell McCook, a devout Presbyterian, ordered the soldiers to build a chapel to serve the enlarged encampment. It was completed in 1884 at a cost of $4,500. That same year, U.S. Secretary of War Robert T. Lincoln authorized the Second South Tramway Company to operate mule-powered cars to Fort Douglas' "Chapel Glen" ravine.
Members of the military and the Salt Lake City community continued to worship in the Post until 1991. University historians claim that before the fort's closure, the Post Chapel was the oldest continuously operational, multi-denominational military chapel in the United States.
The renovation of the Post Chapel was a substantial undertaking. When it became part of the University just over 10 years ago, it was in such bad shape that there was talk of tearing it down. Instead, members of the community pledged support to restore the chapel, which has housed weddings, funerals, public prayer services, and private devotionals over the years as the Interfaith House of Worship at the University of Utah. The restoration, completed this year, was made possible by the support of the Frederick Q. Lawson Foundation, the Janet Q. Lawson Foundation, the Episcopal Diocese of Utah, and contributions from many other individuals and faiths.
President Machen acknowledges that it is rare for a public university to include an interfaith chapel on its campus. But a complete education, he notes, is about "body, mind, and spirit."
—Anne Palmer Peterson MPA'00 is former editor of Continuum." SOURCE