Southeast Missouri State University student publication

Stained glass panels remounted at Kent Library

Tuesday, October 21, 2014
One of the panels from the stained glass collection to be displayed bears the title "Gigantic Casters." Photo by Andrew Tyahla

Gay Walker, author of "Bonawit, Stained Glass & Yale: G. Owen Bonawit's Work at Yale University and Beyond," came to speak at two events on Oct. 8 at Southeast Missouri State University. Bonawit created the stained glass windows that were in Kent Library's Reading Room.

"Gay has done excellent research on Bonawit," Roxanne Dunn, Special Collections and Archives Librarian at Kent Library, said. "She is very passionate and has very much enjoyed her work."

Bonawit got his start in glasswork as an apprentice to his uncle Owen Bowen. Throughout his career, Bonawit completed projects for various colleges, churches and private residences. He frequently worked with architect James Gamble Rogers. One such project was Kent Library.

Walker said the stained glass at the library was originally displayed in the reading room. There are 45 panels in the library. Most of them were the writer's marks of various writers. Writers marks are seals that authors use to identify their work.

"You can see a lot of wordplay in each of the marks," Walker said. "For example, Andro Myller's mark includes a windmill."

Others include historical Missouri figures such as Father Jacques Marquette and Mark Twain.

Another depicted the acquisition of the Louisiana Purchase from the French. Others showed the state and university seals.

"I had heard about the windows before this event, but this is my first time seeing them in person," Walker said.

The stained glass was part of the library since its construction in 1939 and lit up the reading room until 1967, when an outer shell was built around the library. As a result the windows would have been covered up.

The windows were then framed and put on display on the third floor mezzanine. They stayed there until 2005, when the library underwent renovations to add the information commons. Since then, they were kept in storage in the library's basement.

"With Kent Library celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, we decided it was a perfect time to bring the windows back out," Dunn said. "In fact, we had a bad leak recently and the windows were in danger of getting wet. So we moved and installed them quickly."

The stained glass is now remounted in the window between the reading room and the computer lab. The panels were kept in their frames and mounted between two layers of safety glass. Usually, they are covered by a curtain, but the people who attended each of the events got a sneak peek at the windows before their official unveiling on Nov. 7, the actual anniversary.

On Nov. 7, Kent Library will host two 75th anniversary celebrations. The first will be at noon and will be oriented toward students. There will be special exhibits and free cupcakes available. The second event will start at 6 p.m. and will be for the community. During this time, speakers will be on hand and people will be able to tour the library's Rare Book Room. The evening event will also include the grand unveiling of the stained glass. Tickets are $40 each or two tickets for $75.

"The stained glass windows are permanently remounted," Dunn said. "As long as Kent Library is here, the windows will be here."

The first event was at noon at Sadie's Place in Kent Library. For this event, Walker talked about how she first learned about Bonawit's work with stained glass. Walker first got a job at Yale University's Sterling Memorial Library. Her office had some stained glass windows created by Bonawit. She frequently moved between offices and each one had different windows.

"After seeing the windows at Yale, I was spoiled for life," Walker said.

When it came time for her master's thesis, Walker decided to research Bonawit's work. This proved to be a difficult task because there were only a few articles that mentioned Bonawit, if only briefly. Walker ended up scouring the Yale Gazette, "Arts and Decorations" magazine and various ads, bills and comments on Bonawit's work. Once she sent an open letter to "Stained Glass" magazine, she got a lot of replies from many of Bonawit's clients and contemporaries.

"I would say that my research was serendipitous," Walker said.

After that, Walker completed her thesis, but it was rejected for being too long. Yet she had a hard time shortening it. Instead, she worked to have it published as a book. Walker was later contacted by Bonawit's daughter, Peggy. She had heard what Walker was doing and wanted to help spread knowledge of her father's work.

"Peggy was really generous with the leads and photos," Walker said. "That moment was my 'deus ex machina.'"

The second event was at 6 p.m. in the University Ballroom. The night began with a buffet before Walker gave her lecture on the history of Bonawit's work. She began with some personal history. Then she talked about the various work he did before talking about the windows at Kent Library.

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