Dufour’s Stained Glass Window

Is Highlight of Interfaith Chapel

 

In the midst of Greenwell Springs Hospital’s scattering of buildings is one that perhaps is the most interesting on the campus. It is the lovely little Redeemer Interfaith Chapel with its gorgeous stained glass window by renowned artist and longtime LSU Professor Paul Dufour.

 

Paul Dufour's beautiful stained glass highlights the interior of the Redeemer Interfaith Chapel on the grounds of Greenwell Springs Hospital.

Of course, in its earliest stage the old hospital was actually a large resort hotel for people in New Orleans and Baton Rouge who sought to escape the yellow fever epidemics that raged in the cities in summer.   On August 5, 1862 the hotel on the beautiful Amite River became a hospital for the first time when wounded and retreating Confederate troops and their prisoners went there following the Battle of Baton Rouge.     

 

Built with Private Funds

The Interfaith Chapel was constructed in 1967 as the result of several years of planning by many Protestant and Catholic groups.   No public funds were used in its construction.   The cost was covered entirely by private funds with equal amounts coming from the Baton Rouge Catholic Diocese and the Protestant Churches.  

 

Members of the general public plus patients and employees contributed considerable amounts to the fund also, according to Administrator Dee Mondrick.

 

Today, Hospital Chaplin Rev. Henry Johnson and other clergy hold closed services in the chapel regularly.    “Of course the services must be closed to protect the confidentiality of our patients,” said Mondrick.   “But at the present time the chapel is administered by the Greenwell Springs Hospital Volunteer Advisor Board,” she said.   “The Board includes several people from Central including Realtor Lee Rome and Wayne Leader of Central Super Suds Car Wash, among others.”

 

Full Occupancy

Of course, the Chapel was built during the years when Greenwell Springs Hospital treated tuberculosis suffers from throughout South Louisiana.   Today its 66 beds are 100 percent occupied on a daily basis with patients suffering from mental illness and/or drug abuse.   There are also over 100 admissions each month in the area of adolescent services.   Greenwell Springs hospital provides a group home setting for the Louisiana State Office of Community Services.    

 

Dr. Jesse Fairchild said Dr. Dwight Eanburg, Sr. was the Superintendent and Medical Director of Greenwell Springs Hospital   “Until we had the chapel there was nothing in the way of religious services for the tuberculosis patients,” he said.   “Mr. Ed Hardesty was our business manager and he dealt with the preachers and ministers.   Everyone agreed that there was an obvious need for a place where you could feel like you were in a church.” when the Chapel was built and Dr. Fairchild was a staff physician.

 

Dufour’s Donation

Dr. Fairchild, who was on the staff of the hospital from 1955 until 1976, said Professor Paul Dufour did the stained glass window for free, to the best of his recollection.  

 

“You know without the old hotel that eventually became the Greenwell Springs Hospital Central really had no reason to exist.   That’s exactly why I wrote my book, because people just do not know of the exciting history of our area.”   In 1993 Dr. Fairchild published A historical sketch of Greenwell Springs, 1850-1950.

When you Google Paul Dufour you find that he came to teach at LSU in 1955, and, before his retirement in 1985, he was granted sabbaticals to study in France, Germany, Italy and Japan. His artistic focus included watercolors and glass.

An impressive selection of Dufour's art may also be seen in over 2000 square feet of stained glass at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church in Baton Rouge.  He is also responsible for stained glass at St. Aloysius Church, University Baptist Church and University Methodist Church.