McDONALD PEACE WINDOWS
“You don’t understand what it’s like to be walking through desolation with no one else there. It was my first experience at how obliterating war can be to the efforts of mankind…..There was glass everywhere and I picked up quite a number of these broken pieces that were deeply smoked by the explosion of the bombs. I put them away and then mailed them home. The shards represented something deep that you ought to remember about this. It’s so often a little thing that can bring back a flood or memories into your head.” Reverend F. A. McDonald
Omar Bradley, US Army General
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Since 2010, the Interfaith Center of the Presidio has been the home of the remarkable McDonald Peace Windows – shards of stained glass collected from bombed-out European cathedrals, synagogues, and chapels during World War II by Chaplain Fred McDonald, Staff Chaplain to General of the Army Omar Bradley, who commanded American soldiers in the liberation of Paris and the Battle of the Bulge. While looking for sanctuaries to hold services for his troops in 1944-1945, Rev. McDonald, an Episcopal Priest, visited many bombed out chapels, cathedrals, and synagogues. At each location, he picked up shards of stained glass and saved them for 50 years. Before his death, he gave the shards to glass artists to make windows and other works of art.
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Chaplain McDonald’s family commissioned 13 artists to create what are now known as the “McDonald Windows”, a collection of stained glass windows and other glass art pieces, representing a universal hope for peace. In 1999, the Interfaith Center at the Presidio was given 25 stained-glass pieces that have occupied the west wing of the Chapel and been curated for traveling exhibitions. Since 2007, The McDonald Windows have been shown in the United States and in Europe, including being designated as a Smithsonian traveling exhibit. In addition to being works of glass art of exceptional quality, these windows represent the ability to make peace and art out of war.
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In Remembrance of V-E Day (Victory in Europe) – Homily by U.S. Army Chaplain Frederick A. McDonald for the Allied High Command May 8, 1945.
Chaplain McDonald, while looking for sanctuaries to hold services for his troops in 1944-1945, picked up shards of stained glass which have been turned into 25 stained glass pieces known as the “McDonald Peace Windows”. The Interfaith Center at the Presidio is the future permanent home of these works of glass art which represent the ability to make peace and art out of war.
Chaplain McDonald, while looking for sanctuaries to hold services for his troops in 1944-1945, picked up shards of stained glass which have been turned into 25 stained glass pieces known as the “McDonald Peace Windows”. The Interfaith Center at the Presidio is the future permanent home of these works of glass art which represent the ability to make peace and art out of war.
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Photographs of the McDonald Windows have been exhibited in Germany at the following locations:
Erholungsgesellschaft in Aachen (Social Club of Aachen founded in 1837) - 2014
Kloster Steinfeld/Eifel (boarding school) - 2015
Stadtbibliothek Aachen (Public Library of Aachen) - 2016
Museum "Huertgenwald 1944 und im Frieden (the Museum of Peace in Huertgenwald Forest) - 2016
Ringhotel Haus Oberwinter in Remagen (hotel near the Bridge of Remagen) - 2017
Roncalli-Haus in Magdeburg (Academy of the Catholic Diocese of Magdeburg) - 2018
Kloster Steinfeld/Eifel (boarding school) - 2015
Stadtbibliothek Aachen (Public Library of Aachen) - 2016
Museum "Huertgenwald 1944 und im Frieden (the Museum of Peace in Huertgenwald Forest) - 2016
Ringhotel Haus Oberwinter in Remagen (hotel near the Bridge of Remagen) - 2017
Roncalli-Haus in Magdeburg (Academy of the Catholic Diocese of Magdeburg) - 2018
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