In the spring of 1974, the Rev. Moses B. Anderson, S.S.E.
(MA in Theology XU '68), then the chaplain of Xavier University of Louisiana, obtained
a grant from the Danforth Foundation to be used in the renovation of the
school’s chapel. Father Moses consulted with Lloyd Walter Bennett, Jr. (XU
’60), then a professor of Art Education and Fine Arts at XU, regarding the
construction of a suitable background for a tabernacle and wood altar made by
Julius Saul (XU ’59). John Scott (XU ’62), then chairman of the Art Department,
participated in the discussion, the result of which was a challenge to Bennett
to design a freestanding wall to be placed behind the altar and tabernacle.
The approved design was a combination of ceramics and wood,
with ceramic, bronze and wood tiles mounted within a wooden ladder-like
framework. The decoration on the tiles incorporated Ashanti adinkra symbols and
other representations of the African American experience, which complemented
the priest’s kente cloth vestments.
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The framework, dubbed “Jacob’s Ladder” by the participants,
was constructed of California redwood by Henry Lemieux, supervisor of the
maintenance department, and his crew, Charles Collins and Charles Baquet, the university engineer. Each of the ceramics artists requested to be
responsible for specific tiles. Professor Scott was asked to contribute a cast
bronze plaque and to carve a redwood image interpreting the Adinkra symbols for Gye Nyame (the omnipotence of God) and Nyame Ye Ohene (the majesty and
supremacy of God).
The chapel was located in the administration building at the corner of Palmetto Street and Drexel Boulevard (formerly Pine Street).
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