May 27, 2025
Dear Friends and Supporters of the Wentworth Military Academy Museum:
On behalf of the Wentworth Military Academy Museum and the Wentworth Military Academy Museum Endowment, we hope this message finds you and yours well. As you gleaned from the subject line of this email, we have some work that needs to be done. We are reaching out to you to explain the situation and request your assistance. The WMA Museum needs to raise $500,000 urgently. This email will discuss: 1) the stained-glass window repairs/restoration that is currently underway; and 2) deferred maintenance at the 115-year-old Old Post Office (now the Wentworth Military Academy Museum) that needs to be addressed.
Stained-Glass Windows
History
70 years ago, the Wentworth Military Academy Chapel was dedicated on November 6, 1955, to commemorate the “gallantry of WMA alumni who served on the field of battle.” More than $165,000 was raised by Wentworth Alumni to assist with fundraising efforts to build the Chapel (equivalent to over $2,000,000 in 2025). The west wall of the Chapel featured five stained-glass windows: King David, Joshua, St. John, St. Paul, and Jesus. Four of these stained-glass windows were dedicated to the memory of specific Wentworth Alumnus, and the fifth was donated by a Wentworth family.
Upon Wentworth’s closing in 2017, Alumni and friends banded together via lawsuits and the bank auction to secure the vast majority of Wentworth’s history – – – preserving priceless artifacts from scattering to the four-corners of the globe and enabling the Wentworth Museum to come into reality. Securing the windows required a second lawsuit and an eventual settlement.
When on display in the Chapel, these 14’x4’ (each) windows were not displayed seamlessly side-by-side – – – – and it was not until they were acquired and relocated to the Wentworth Museum that the stunning elegance of them at eye level instantly made them the “crown jewels” of the Wentworth Museum. They have since been appraised at nearly $500,000 each (yes, that is a total value of $2.5 million). They simply don’t make stained-glass windows like this anymore.
Due to the limited use of the Chapel and the age of the windows, their significance had largely been lost to time and memory. But the Museum restored their significance and placed them front and center. Standing in the Wentworth Museum’s Hall of Honor and staring at these majestic windows is a breathtaking experience.
And… Here comes the “but…”
The Need for Restoration after 70 Years
These priceless Wentworth artifacts, while amazingly designed and constructed in 1955, were never properly maintained by the Academy. The occasional repairs that were needed were never performed by skilled and trained stained-glass window repair persons. For as much as we all loved Wentworth’s maintenance crew, their occasional fixes were nothing more than band-aids, at best. Once the stained-glass windows were rescued and relocated to the Museum, and where they could be closely inspected, it became apparent that once the Museum got established and we caught our breath, they would need a substantial restoration. After seven years of digesting what we were able to rescue, 2025 is the year the stained-glass windows will be fully restored – – – as good as new (if not better) – – – and returned and reinstalled for centuries to come. Experts in the field know in hindsight how to improve upon the original manufacture. Within the stained-glass industry, the understanding of how glass and lead react over time to heat and weight bearing conditions has evolved over the past 50 or 60 years to the place where specific “mistakes” which the original designers made in the construction and installation of stained glass can be identified and remedied. This is not meant to be critical of the makers of the stained-glass. It’s simply a fact that much of what is known now simply wasn’t known back in 1955. Now that they are no longer exposed to the elements, we believe this should be the last overhaul that is needed.
To quote the experts we retained: “The current condition of the glass is becoming serious . . . The glass is showing predictable signs of deterioration and the spontaneous destruction of the bottom middle panel is a definite warning sign. If funds permit the work to be done it might be financially prudent to carry this out sooner than later. Historically stained-glass costs have increased at around 5% per year which is above the normal inflation rate. This is due to EPA regulations governing the production of lead and colored glass and raw material price increases.”
The Problems
1. Severe damage to the bottom of the Jesus stained-glass window.
2. Some of the panels have a concave or convex appearance. This is mild in most cases, but is a warning sign. It’s severe on the bottom of the Jesus stained-glass window.
3. The warping of the panels is causing the steel brace bars to separate from the lead putty in a couple of places which in turn creates an increased rate of deterioration.
4. The movement of the lead has caused the putty holding the glass in place to start falling out.
5. Old repairs were carried out improperly and have weakened the panels where these repairs occurred.
6. Glass is broken or cracked due to storms, vandalism, accidental breakage and stress.
7. The lead bonding is starting to show cracking on the solder joints.
What Caused these Problems?
There are 5 causes of the current problems, most of which occurred while the panels were installed at Wentworth:
- Heat from the sun is the biggest cause of deterioration. The lead and glass heat up and expands during the day and cools down at night. Over time the lead putty starts to become misshapen.
- Wind and storms over the years have exerted pressure on the glass and lead. The wind blowing directly towards the building pushed the glass inwards and the wind blowing across the outside front of the building created a vacuum and sucked the glass out. This constant movement weakened the structure and cracked the cement between the lead and the glass.
- The brace bars supporting the lead should not have been tapered off at the ends. This tapering prevents the weight of the panel from being transferred to the frame where extra support would have slowed down the rate of deterioration. This is most likely the cause of the broken Air Force crest.
- Vandalism, storms and accidental damage.
Concave appearance with panel warping and detached rebar.
Severe damage to the Air Force Crest
Panels are not secured by putty
Cracked lead on the interior due to the caming drying out and becoming brittle
Broken pieces
Old “repairs”
Restoration Process
Here is a quick summary of the restoration process:
1. The existing leaded/stained glass have already been removed, packed and transferred to the repair workshop.
2. A computer-generated pattern/template has been made for each window.
3. The windows will soak for 7 – 14 days to loosen the cement. Each window is then completely taken apart. The unbroken glass is saved and any broken glass is put aside for reuse. The old lead is safely disposed of.
4. The windows are rebuilt using original materials to the greatest extent possible; where not possible new glass is cut to match and replace any broken pieces.
5. The lead used will be specially manufactured to have a profile similar to the existing, but with a higher strength, and where possible, the lead will be steel reinforced on the inside.
6. Each lead joint is soldered using a molten mixture of lead and tin.
7. The panels are then cemented for extra strength and waterproofing by forcing a thin black cement between the lead and the glass.
8. Reinforcing bars are attached in such a way as to support the weight of the glass and lead but at the same time causing the least amount of detraction from the appearance of the windows.
9. Clean and polish the glass
10. Return to the Museum and install the leaded glass panels and new backlighting.
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Museum Critical Infrastructure Improvements
Similar to the stained-glass windows, when we were able to acquire the Old Post Office for the permanent home of the Wentworth Museum, we knew there were going to be repairs that were going to need to be addressed “at a later date.” The overhaul that has been achieved in the short period of time we have been in our new grand home (and in the memorial park) is nothing short of a miracle. It is absolutely stunning. However, it is a 115-year old building – – – and her wooden windows are rotted and the building’s antiquated interior drainage/gutter system needs to be reconditioned. This, coupled with her 30 foot-ceiling have revealed that we have an incredibly energy inefficient building damn-near year-round. This is not good for our artifacts, nor the long-tern finances of the Museum. We have no choice but to upgrade the windows of the building to modern energy-efficient (and highly UV protective) windows (that look age-appropriate to the building). Water and exposure to the elements are the only real threats to the longevity of our overly-built cathedral. Now over 100-years old, the Old Post Office could not be rebuilt today for less than $20 million – – – and that is just the cost of materials. Please help us preserve this historic building.
The Funds
The Wentworth Museum does not have the funds to undertake these massive endeavors, and the funds in the Wentworth Endowment are restricted to ensure the successful perpetuity of the Museum.
In this fundraising effort, every dollar raised will go first to pay for the stained-glass window repairs as those are already underway. Every dollar after those repairs are paid for will go toward replacing the windows in our building, repairing the drainage/gutter system, and installing large fans that will push the heating and cooling down off of our 30-foot ceilings.
All donors of $500 or more will have their names permanently etched into the stone floor of the Museum’s Hall of Honor directly in front of the stained-glass windows (in gold leaf lettering) – – – acknowledging the 2025 70-year restoration of the Museum’s “crown-jewels.” The ultimate design and placement of the “donor floor” is TBD, but the size of the lettering and proximity to the stained glass-windows will be adjusted according to donor level.
Now a complicated double-edged sword word of fundraising caution:
there are simply not enough “large donors” for this effort to be successful with the hope that 1000 people will each donate $500. I speak from experience when I say that is simply not a reality. If you are able to able to be one of our “anchor donors” for this endeavor (i.e., $25,000 – $50,000), we beg you to consider doing so. However, we will need donations of every amount to make this happen.
As Always…”ACHIEVE THE HONORABLE”
George J. Hittner
WMA Museum Capital Campaign Chair