GAR Memorial Dome – Chicago Cultural Center, East Randolph Street, Chicago, Illinois, United States

At the top of the stairway on the Randolph Street side of the Chicago Cultural Center is the 45-foot by 50-foot Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) Rotunda. The ceiling is embossed with plaster carvings of swords, shields, helmets, and flags. This ornamental heraldry serves to remind viewers of the loss that comes with war.

The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (U.S. Navy), Marines and the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service who served in the American Civil War. Founded in 1866 in Decatur, Illinois, and growing to include hundreds of posts (local community units) across the nation (predominately in the North, but also a few in the South and West), it was dissolved in 1956 at the death of its last member, Albert Woolson (1850–1956) of Duluth, Minnesota. Linking men through their experience of the war, the G.A.R. became among the first organized advocacy groups in American politics, supporting voting rights for black veterans, promoting patriotic education, helping to make Memorial Day a national holiday, lobbying the United States Congress to establish regular veterans' pensions, and supporting Republican political candidates. Its peak membership, at more than 490,000, was in 1890, a high point of various Civil War commemorative and monument dedication ceremonies.

Of the 19 companies that competed for the commission in 1896, it was the Chicago firm of Healy & Millet that won the challenge of creating this interior. Decorating firms commonly worked closely with architects and contractors to determine a building’s interior finishes. Led by Louis J. Millet (1856-1923) and George L Healy (1856-1921), this firm’s reputation for innovation and experimentation with then traditional materials was well established and respected by many. As graduates of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris their taste ran to the contemporary French preference for graceful and elegant forms inspired by nature. It was architect Louis Sullivan who called Louis J. Millet "the best chorus master" for coordinating such schemes, which might include painting, stenciling, art glass, and decorative plasterwork. As Director of Architecture and Design at the School of the Art Institute until 1918, Millet especially had a lasting influence on the Arts and Crafts community in Chicago as he guided generations of many young men and women who pursued careers in decorative design.

The stained-glass dome in shades of tan, beige, and ochre is now lighted electrically. It was originally illuminated by sunlight. It is held by cast-iron ribbing, manufactured by the Winslow Brothers of Chicago. A floor inset with glass blocks originally provided natural light from the dome to the first floor below. Relentless experiment and rapid innovation characterized the American decorative arts scene at the time this building was being constructed. Seeking new decorative tools of expression, Americans such as Healy & Millet introduced opalescent glass, ripple glass, and chipped jewels to create texture and color in their work. Often incorporating flowers and foliage in their designs, as in this case, their expressions in glass quickly became popular and the artists who created them gained international respect. The intricate Renaissance pattern selected for this space is a classic example of their abilities.

The immense G.A.R. Memorial Hall is just beyond the Rotunda. It measures 53-feet long, 96-feet wide, and 33-feet high. Leased to the Grand Army Hall and Memorial Association between 1898 and 1948, it was a meeting place for members of the G.A.R. Today, the collection of Civil War artifacts once displayed there is now preserved at the Harold Washington Library Center. The hall is now is used for ceremonial and artistic purposes, including weddings. This room is a somber and richly decorated memorial to the soldiers of the Civil War. The sedate Vermont (Verdé) marble walls bear the names of 30 Civil War battles including: Shilo, Antietam, Gettysburg, Cedar Creek, Ft. Sumter. The coffered ceilings are encrusted with dragons, fruit, starts, and other designs. Adjacent to Memorial Hall is the Claudia Cassidy Theater, originally a flat-floored G.A.R. meeting room.