Windows of Inspiration

Students who were here last year may remember Mrs. Salit’s Chapel Talk from May, in which she revealed the details of our “Windows of Inspiration” project.   

As you may know, Wickenden Chapel is filled with stained-glass windows, and the men depicted in the existing windows were chosen by the building committee in the 1960s “to inspire students who would meet in this Chapel by surrounding them with the great minds who have pushed mankind to its present position, however imperfect.”

You might note that, in most cases, the committee paired two figures together—one classical and one modern (for that time, of course)—to represent the academic disciplines that were studied by Tabor students at that time. The only two unpaired windows, one of Donald McKay and the other of Herman Melville, reflect both our location in the harbor-side Town of Marion and Tabor Academy as the School by the Sea. Artists such as Bach and DaVinci, geometry founders Euclid and Descartes, famed engineer Roebling for his Brooklyn Bridge, Milton, Melville, Galileo, Marshall, Aquinas, and Pasteur are all examples of the influential men portrayed in our windows, all men who inspired and guided the Tabor Seawolves of the past.   

A few years ago, Mrs. Salit embarked on a journey and championed an effort to help us reflect on those who are missing from these windows. She asked the community, what influential figures are guiding and inspiring the Tabor community today? In 2019, Mrs. Salit invited the faculty, staff, students, and alumni to think about modern-day individuals whom they would like to stand alongside these “Windows of Greatness” figures.  The community nominated over 80 individuals for consideration and that list was narrowed down by vote.  

The result was eight individuals that our community felt best embody the characteristics of today’s Tabor community. These individuals represent our “Windows of Inspiration” project. 

• Maya Angelou 
• Confucius 
• Albert Einstein 
• Steve Jobs 
• Martin Luther King, Jr. 
• Rosa Parks
• Travis Roy ’95
• Malala Yousafzai 

To bring this project to life, we commissioned eight posters to represent these members of our world, chosen by our community. And now, their images hang in the Chapel alongside the stained-glass that has graced our walls since the Chapel was built. We can continue to add to and change this collection over time and keep working to best represent the essence of Tabor.  

It is our hope that the new “Windows of Inspiration” will not only represent Tabor, but also illustrate the important and necessary values that help us all to be happy, connected, welcoming, and influential members of this great school.  Perhaps, and maybe most importantly, guide us to be the kind of role model that may someday place us among the extraordinary individuals portrayed in the Wickenden Chapel.   

Thank you to Mrs. Salit for her leadership in this important project and to the many other individuals within our community who contributed to the “Windows of Inspiration.”

 

 

 

 

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