“She moved and moves among us, joyous, giving and alive.” So reads the plaque in the narthex of the Helen Mauck Galbreath Memorial Chapel, located on the college green of Ohio University.

The chapel, built in 1957, was the gift of John W. Galbreath in memory of his wife, Helen, a 1919 alumna who died in 1946. Mrs. Galbreath was the former Helen Mollineaux Mauck, daughter of the prominent Mauck family of Gallipolis, Ohio. Her father, Roscoe J. Mauck, judge of the Gallia County Common Pleas Court and the Fourth Ohio District Court of Appeals for 25 years, attended Ohio University from 1888 to 1892 and was awarded an honorary MA degree in 1917.

While at the University, Helen Mauck met John Galbreath, who was working his way through college. They were married after his graduation in 1920. Their daughter, Jody Galbreath Phillips, graduated from Ohio University in 1946 and served on the Ohio University Board of Trustees from 1970 to 1979.

• Additional facts about Galbreath Chapel

Additional facts about Galbreah Chapel

• The chapel was designed by the Boston architectural firms of Perry, Shaw, and Hepburn and Kehoe and Dean, whose works include the restoration of Williamsburg in Virginia and U.S. Air Force Chapel in England. An example of Greek Revival architecture, the octagonal shape of the chapel nave was partly imposed upon the design by the size, shape and location of the site. The interior design of the nave gives the chapel its superb acoustics. The nave octagon is surmounted by a lantern bearing a 120-foot spire. Clerestory windows in the lantern flood the nave with light from above. The Greek tholos was the inspiration for the lantern. The spire is a Christian element; the weatherman which surmounts it, American.

• Below excerpt from THE OHIO ALUMNUS- November ’56; by Richard L Bitters, Director of Press Relations

  A MAGNIFICENT memorial chapel, the only building ever presented to Ohio University as a gift, will be constructed soon between the Auditorium and Ellis Hall.

  To be known as the Helen Mauck Galbreath Memorial Chapel, the new building is being presented to the University by John W. Galbreath, a graduate and trustee, in memory of his wife who died in 1946.

  To be interdenominational in nature, the octagonal chapel will provide a 45 by 45 foot sanctuary with a seating capacity of 150. Featuring a spiral reaching 120 feet in the air, the building will be located on the approximate site of the first building on the campus.

• The Ground-breaking Ceremony for the Helen Mauck Galbreath Memorial Chapel occurred on December 11, 1956. President John C. Baker said the following:

  I speak for the entire University community when I say the coming of this Chapel brings joy to all. This is especially true since in will bear the name of Helen Mauck Galbreath, of the Class of 1919, a representative student from Southeastern Ohio who is still remembered by her friends as the most popular girl on campus- a gay happy girl bubbling over with kindness for all.

• The Dedicatory Service for the HELEN MAUCK GALBREATH MEMORIAL CHAPEL occurred on June 7, 1958. The dedication program, attended by some 200 persons, included Mr. John C. Baker, president; Mr. Troy Organ, professor of philosophy, Ohio University; Mr. John W. Galbreath; Mr. Harry B. Crewson, chairman, Faculty Advisory Council; Mr. George Voinovich, retiring president, Student Council, as well as Ohio’s Governor C. William O’Neil and Senator John W. Bricker.

• Student Body Response - June 7, 1958
  Helen Mauck Galbreath Memorial Chapel Dedication

  Guests of Ohio University and Members of the University Family, it is my sincere privilege to represent the Student Body at this dedication of the Helen Mauck Galbreath Memorial Chapel.

  Today’s college student in his busy life of going to classes, studying, and participating in extracurricular activities finds himself many times in need of a place where he can sit down and meditate upon what he is doing, and what he is going to do, and to call upon divine help in answering these questions.

  Most of the time it is a great inconvenience to seek out a place that will fulfill this need. Because it is an inconvenience to seek out such a place, we have a tendency to forget about this need.

  I feel that this Helen Mauck Galbreath Memorial Chapel will serve as a constant reminder of the spiritual side of life, and will serve as a place in which we can find the answers to many of our problems.

  On behalf of the Student Body of Ohio University, I want to thank the Galbreath family for providing us with this chapel which will help us to fulfill our spiritual needs.

  George V. Voinovich

• New pipe organ takes center stage in Galbreath Chapel - April 1998
  The new 1200-pipe organ that serves as the centerpiece of Galbreath Chapel was built by Gene Bedient of Lincoln, Neb., and replaces a 28-rank Moeller organ, the console of which had been located in the balcony. The organ case is made of painted poplar and mahogany. “The live acoustics of Galbreath Chapel provide the organ with a lively setting to create sound. Although it has a modest number of stops, the instrument provides both a great variety of sounds and an impressive full-organ sound that is often lacking instruments of its size.” (Compiled from April 1998 Outlook article; original article by Mary Alice Casey)

• The spire, topped with a brass weather vane, is modeled after that of the portico of Nash's All Souls Church in London.

Information about Galbreath Chapel is courtesy of The Robert E. & Jean R. Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections at Ohio University.