Description of the Stained Glass Windows For the Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library

By Wilbur Herbert Burnham

The style and treatment of the stained glass windows in the Delivery Hall were inspired by Fifteenth Century English glass in which heraldic devices and medallions were placed on quarry backgrounds. This type of stained glass not only gives one a sense of richness in color but at the same time, through the use of quarry or lozenge patterns in silvery white glasses and light tints, permits plenty of light to filter through the glass.

Each lancet is composed of three medallions, the lower tier in each case showing the seals of foreign universities, namely: the University of Paris; Trinity College, Dublin; Oxford; Heidelberg; Universidad Major de San Marcos de Lima; and the Universidad Nacional de Mexico. The decorative motif surrounding each of these seals is the grapevine, symbolizing fruitful growth.

The intermediate tier of medallions contains the seals of American universities, namely: Harvard University; College of William and Mary, Northwester University; University of California; Stanford University; Princeton University. The oak, symbolizing strength, is used as the decorative framework for these seals.

The top tier of medallions contains symbolic representations of great scholars, namely; Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Maimonides, Thomas Aquinas and Francis Bacon, each medallion framed with a border of laurel, symbolizing honor and reward.

Socrates is represented as holding a scroll, and the cup of hemlock is worked into the design.

Plato's "Republic", and other writings are symbolized by the book and scroll.

Aristotle is shown holding the scroll and rule, while Francis Bacon is holding the open book.

Maimonides, great Jewish philosopher, humanitarian physician, theologian and man of letters, is shown holding a book, which represents his "Guide".

St. Thomas Aquinas is shown holding a book, and the sun is represented on his breast.

Appropriate dates in pure color are woven into the quarry backgrounds. The pen and inkwell, symbolizing letters, and the lamp, symbolizing knowledge, are decorative features of the background.

Text from an unpublished manuscript edited by Mrs. Roger Hayward, on the occasion of the opening of the Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library, USC, 1932.