In the News
John Glenn Artwork To Mark 50th Anniversary
John H. Glenn, Jr. ’43 (1921-2016) is honored with a stained-glass window in San Francisco’s historic Grace Cathedral.
Installed in 1964, the window is set to mark its 50th Anniversary among the Cathedral’s unique and renowned collection of stained glass and other art treasures, which draws visitors from all over the world.
Part of a series of 12 Human Endeavor windows, John Glenn’s window represents Exploration. It depicts him in a spacesuit, raising his visor with his left hand, with the Mercury-Atlas rocket above, a red rocket gantry at right, the earth below, and a control panel by his right hand. The window is more than 16 feet tall and nearly 5 feet wide, and its base is 68 feet above floor level.
Created by artist Gabriel Loire of Chartres, France, the Human Endeavor series also includes luminaries such as Albert Einstein, Henry Ford, Robert Frost, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Frank Lloyd Wright.
John Glenn’s remarkable life encompassed his New Concord childhood, Muskingum education interrupted by World War II, wartime service as decorated combat Marine pilot, record-setting achievements as supersonic test pilot, space travels as a pioneering Mercury 7 and space shuttle Discovery astronaut, and public service as a four-term United States senator and civic leader.
He was married to his childhood sweetheart Annie Castor Glenn ’42 (1920-2020) for more than seven decades. Both served the University as long-time trustees and Distinguished Alumni Professors in Public Affairs, and both held honorary Muskingum doctorates and alumni Distinguished Service Awards.
Photo courtesy of Grace Cathedral.
