Annie Pfeiffer Chapel
1941
On May 24, 1938, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the first Frank Lloyd Wright building at Florida Southern College, and in November of the same year, the College hosted the cornerstone ceremony. Three years later, on March 9, 1941, the Annie Pfeiffer Chapel was completed, and a dedication ceremony was held with philanthropist Annie Merner Pfeiffer herself in attendance. Frank Lloyd Wright had designed the chapel to be both the physical and spiritual center of the campus. The chapel was primarily built by students in exchange for tuition and board and featured what would become recurring design elements of Frank Lloyd Wright. The floors were made with cantilevered Cherokee Red cement, and there were windows, skylights, and multicolor stained glass blocks in the walls to provide natural light. The unique wire structure at the top of the chapel later became nicknamed "God's Bicycle Rack." Several more ceremonies have been held in Annie Pfeiffer Chapel since its dedication, including rededications in 1991 and 1993, as well as the dedication of the MacGowan Room to the Dean of the Annie Pfeiffer Chapel Professor Robert MacGowan in 1993. In 2009, the Chapel Garden was added to the south side of the building. While the Annie Pfeiffer Chapel was damaged during a 1944 hurricane, it was repaired and later restoration efforts in 1998 and 2016 have helped in preserving this historic landmark.
Annie Merner was born in 1860 in New Hamburg, Ontario, Canada. She married Henry Pfieffer, born in 1857 in Lewiston, Pennsylvania. Henry worked in the drug manufacturing business, founding the Pfeiffer Chemical Company in 1901, and purchasing William R Warner & Company in 1908. The couple became successful and wealthy, and decided to use their money to help institutions such as colleges, libraries, and museums.
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Chapel Garden