Walking by the Trinity College Chapel in Hartford, CT on this beautiful spring day was a special treat, and the Northwest Cloister was stunning under the blooming tulip trees.
The Chapel has been admired for its beauty since 1929-32 when it was constructed.
There were three men – architect Philip H. Frohman, donor William G. Mather, and Trinity president and chaplain Rev. Dr. Remsen B. Ogilby – who led the effort to design and build Trinity Chapel, but there is a seldom heard story about the contribution of the builders themselves.
The workmen were so invested in their task and the beauty they were creating, that they held regular services in the Crypt Chapel, the first portion to be completed. When the Great Depression depleted Mather’s finances and he was unable to fund the minimum required to protect the unfinished building, it was the workmen who stepped up. Donating a considerable share of their labor, they saw to the completion of the Chapel. Once his finances were restored, Mather paid them in full. This group of men, who formed the Chapel Builder’s Alumni Association, have their names carved beneath the last stone to be set, as well as in the south cloister. They continued to meet at the Chapel every year to inspect their work and worship, long after their job was done.