Ancient histories at the heart of campus

Between the Indiana Memorial Union and Ballantine Hall lie two landmarks of IU lore and tradition. Beck Chapel and Dunn Cemetery stand adjacent to one another, prominent figures on a campus flooded with icons of the past.

Throngs of students shuttle by each day, absentmindedly aware of the history nearby.

Allison Sparks, event manager at the IMU, said Beck Chapel was constructed in 1956 and draws mostly wedding ceremonies.

“We do not have a waiting list, contrary to many peoples’ beliefs,” Sparks said. “You could get married in the chapel tomorrow if you wanted to.”

If a couple so desires, they can call to be married on any Saturday. Sparks said the chapel can hold up to three weddings in a day, and in the months of May through July, each Saturday is typically fully booked.

The chapel is also home to some fraternity and sorority initiation rituals, as well as study and prayer of all faiths. The building, made of Indiana limestone, is a non-denominational haven for students practicing any religion.

In 1956, Frank and Daisy Beck presented the chapel as a gift to IU, their alma mater. Frank Beck, an alumnus from the class of 1894, wished to provide the campus with a place in which students could meditate and worship.

With a slate roof and just 16 golden oak pews, the chapel can only hold 65 people at a time.

“I think it’s a little hidden gem on campus,” Sparks said. “We get a lot of alumni to come back. It’s special to them.”

Just below the small chapel lies Dunn Cemetery, a small graveyard filled with worn grass and slowly eroding tombs.

“Some people call it ‘God’s Little Acre,’” said Thom Simmons, associate executive director of the IMU. “It’s about an acre in size.”

Unlike the chapel, the history of Dunn Cemetery is obscure and convoluted, evoking more legend than fact. What is known is that the cemetery was named after the Dunn family, which previously owned a farm across the land on which most of the campus now stands. When the University sought to buy the farm, the Dunn family agreed to sell it to the school on one condition: the cemetery would remain untouched.

“My understanding is it was deeded separately, and so that acre is deeded as the Dunn Cemetery,” Simmons said. The University does not own any of the plots or have control over any future burials.

The first burial was conducted in 1814, two years before Indiana became a state and six before the school’s founding.

Dunn Cemetery is still active, though only relatives and spouses of the Dunn family are to be buried there.

Simmons said Edward Hutton, the namesake of IU’s Hutton Honors College, was married to a descendent of the Dunns. When he died in 2009, his ashes were buried in the family cemetery.

The histories of Beck Chapel and Dunn Cemetery are intertwined with that of the University, histories in the heart of campus.