Construction of the red, brick, Dahlgren Chapel began in 1892. It became the first building on Georgetown's campus to be funded entirely by external philanthropy, as well as the first to be named after a non-Jesuit. Elizabeth Wharton Drexel, spouse of Georgetown undergraduate, graduate, and law school alumnus John Vinton Dahlgren, donated $10,000 for its construction as a memorial to their first son, Joseph Drexel Dahlgren, who died at the age of one year in 1891. Elizabeth "Bessie" Drexel took a personal interest in overseeing the fabrication of the stained glass windows, which were designed by Franz Mayer & Co. of Munich, Germany. The windows depict sixteen unique scenes of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and several saints, including Joan of Arc and Ignatius of Loyola. At the laying of the cornerstone, an address was given by Cardinal James Gibbons. Construction of the roughly neo-Gothic building was completed in 1893 and dedication to the Sacred Heart of Jesus occurred that same year. At the time of its completion, Dahlgren Chapel was positioned in the geographic center of campus, behind Healy Hall and adjacent to Old North, the oldest standing building on campus. Today, it resides in the historic and administrative center of campus and, along with its surrounding buildings, encloses Dahlgren Quadrangle. Prior to the opening of the new house of worship, students utilized a chapel on the second floor of Isaac Hawkins Hall. Beneath the altar of the chapel is the Dahlgren family crypt, where Elizabeth and John Dahlgren are buried, along with their son, Joseph. The church bell atop the chapel was the bell of the Calvert mission in the Maryland colony.
Present day
The exterior of Dahlgren Chapel was featured in the 1973 filmThe Exorcist. Though weddings in the chapel were suspended by the archdiocese in the 1990s, the chapel is now a popular venue for weddings of Georgetown alumni. In 2011, Georgetown undertook an $8 million renovation of the chapel, the fourth in its history. Major structural renovations and interior refurbishments were made, including a reinforcement of the foundation, and the stained glass windows were removed, re-leaded, and re-installed. A new pipe organ was installed during the renovation. The building had previously been renovated in 1976 and 1990. Following its most recent renovation, the chapel can seat 275 people. In 2013, the chapel was the subject of vandalism, which involved damage to furniture and a processional cross. An investigation indicated that the damage was not motivated by religious desecration.
After years of disregard, a large iron cross was re-discovered in the basement of Healy Hall in 1989. The 2 ft by 4 ft cross, weighing 24 pounds, is horizontally inscribed with "ad perpetuam rei memoriam," which translates from Latin as "may this be eternally remembered," and vertically inscribed with "This cross is said to have been brought by the first settlers from England to St. Mary's." Consequently, it is believed to have been carried by ship from England to St. Clement's Island and St. Mary's City of the Maryland Colony by the Jesuits, thereby making it present at the first Roman Catholic mass said in English-speaking North America. The cross is today housed in Dahlgren Chapel. The same cross was used in a mass celebrated by Pope Francis at the Basilica of the National Shrine on September 23, 2015 when he visited Washington, D.C., his first mass in the United States as Pope. The cross was used in an exhibition of the Smithsonian Institution at the National Museum of American History for one year in 2017.
