The following information comes from J. Hanon:

Marie Herndl was the only woman in her time to succeed as an artist in stained glass.  Born in Munich, German in 1859 she came to Milwaukee in 1899.  Although she chose to pursue an artistic career in painted glass, she admitted it was a difficult profession.  In a Milwaukee Journal article in 1911 she said, "For a long time I had a hard time: the ways of the artist are not always bright, nor is the work as easy as some imagine...The work is so hard that unless one is determined and diligent as well as in love with it, failure is certain."  Herndl died at her home in Milwaukee on May 14, 1912 at the age of 53.

The Washington Memorial window depicts General George Washington, Baron Friedrich von Steuben of Prussia, and the Marquis de Lafayette of France in a Revolutionary War setting at the time of the Battle of Yorktown.  Lafayette and von Steuben served as division commanders during the engagement.  General Washington sits astride a white horse in the center of the image, with Lafayette standing to his right and von Steuben pictured behind Lafayette.  It was at Yorktown in 1781 where Washington and the Continental army defeated the British forces led by General Cornwallis.

Baron von Steuben, a former Prussian military officer, arrived in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1777 to aid the war effort, without pay or rank.  Through strict training, von Steuben transformed a tired, ragged army into one that would triumph at Yorktown.

Lafayette, hearing of the plight of the colonies, purchased a ship with money inherited from his grandfather and sailed to America.  At the age of 19, he was appointed major general in the Continental army.  Like von Steuben, Lafayette also refused payment for his services.  He became both a close friend and trusted advisor to Washington.  In 1779 Lafayette traveled to his homeland to solicit French support for the colonies.  He returned to America to aid Washington in his defeat of Cornwallis and the British at Yorktown, the last major battle of the American Revolution.