FROM WOMEN TO THE WORLD

The Little Chapel-in-the-Woods, located on the Denton campus of Texas Women’s University, honors the important contributions women have made in the sciences, literature, and the arts. In fact, as the chapel took shape throughout 1938 and 1939, over 300 TWU students and faculty members designed and built key components of the structure including eight of the stained-glass windows at the heart of the chapel design. Teachers, nurses, dancers, painters, writers, mothers, social workers, scientists, actors, and musicians are all represented in the window iconography, symbolically interpreting the many ways women have been instrumental in changing the world.

Architect O’Neil Ford, a native Texan and Denton resident, utilized his signature crisp lines, natural materials, and an instinct for creating spaces that seem to expand both in feeling and spirit to design the Chapel, designated as one of the most outstanding architectural achievements in the state by the Texas Society of Architects. The Chapel continues to host special services including weddings. The first Chapel wedding took place in 1939 and many TWU alumni and students were married in the sanctuary over its history. An online bride book, listing all weddings that have taken place since 1939, is accessible at the Chapel’s website.