Frost Memorial Chapel
Standing atop one of the hills on Berry’s
Mountain Campus is the beautiful Frost Memorial Chapel. Built by Berry
students and staff in 1936-37, Frost has become one of the places that
visitors to the campus remember and return to visit.
It was a gift of Mr. and Mrs. Howard
Frost of Los Angeles, California . While visiting the campus they saw a
sign which had been placed upon the site where the chapel now stands.
“Chapel needed…,” the sign read, and after attending a crowded worship
service in the recitation hall auditorium, they agreed. The money for
construction was donated to the school and the chapel was named for their son, John Lawrence Frost, who had died in his youth.
The chapel was designed by Samuel
Inman Cooper under the direct supervision of Miss Berry. She reviewed
the plans and approved everything, even the amount of curve in the
hillside walkway.
The building was constructed in
record time as the Frost family was coming for the dedication. The oak
furniture of the chapel was made in the college cabinet shops by the
students. The Frost family arrived on campus three days early to find
boys working 24 hours a day to finish the project, working by
floodlights at night to complete their duties.
The result was a lovely stone
chapel featuring wooden beamed ceilings, a flagstone floor, leaded glass
windows, a slate roof and three beautiful stained glass windows. The
stained glass, which depict the life of Christ, were donated by the
Georgia State Society, National Society Daughters of the American
Revolution in memory of the boys who died in World War II.