Rosenfeld Hall

Rosenfeld Hall is currently at Yale dormitory building located at the corner of Temple and Grove Street. This building is L-shaped in form with a tan limestone tower in the middle and radiating brick wings off to the sides. Although originally built to be the main clubhouse for the St. Elmo senior society in 1912-1913, the building was bought by Yale University in 1962. In 1983, with the donation of Richard N. Rosenfeld (B.A. 1963), the building was renovated and renamed Rosenfeld Hall. The building served as the Yale Language Lab, as well as, consisting of some dorm spaces for Yale College students until 1995 when Rosenfeld Hall became the official annex for Timothy Dwight College students as it still remains today.

1912-1962 St. Elmo Senior Society (Rhinelander Trust Association

1963-1994 Yale University Language Lab

1995-Present Yale University Timothy Dwight College Undergraduate Students

St. Elmo, Delta Phi Fraternity’s house was originally located at 111 Grove Street and was built in 1895 [5]. Adjacent to this house, located on the corner of Grove and Temple Street at 109 Grove Street, was a residential brick house owned by Mrs. E.T. Denton [2]. St. Elmo acquired the lot of 109 Grove Street from Mrs. Denton prior to the construction of St. Elmo Hall in 1912-1913. The original clubhouse for St. Elmo was subsequently demolished to allow this building to sit on the combined properties of 109-111 Grove Street.

Originally named St. Elmo Hall, the building was constructed in 1912-1913 by St. Elmo, an independent entity within the nationally chartered Omicron Chapter of Delta Phi. St. Elmo was senior society that was comprised solely of the Sheffield Scientific School seniors who belonged to this fraternity [6]. This new building became the society’s main clubhouse and residential housing for these students. In July of 1925 though, the Omicron Chapter of Delta Phi severed its ties with the national organization, thus making the St. Elmo senior society, an independent organization within the Sheffield Scientific School [5].

As Yale College started to take over the Sheffield Scientific School and expand within New Haven, the institution looked to rent out space for dormitory space. In 1945, Yale University started to lease space from St. Elmo Hall, although now re-incorporated as the Rhinelander Trust Association. Then, in 1962, Yale University bought out the entire building from, now named, St. Elmo Incorporated, but with the promise that they would continue to lease part of the building for the use of the St. Elmo senior society [5]. This was short lived unfortunately as the University refused to renew St. Elmo’s lease in 1985, leaving the St. Elmo senior society to fund housing elsewhere [5].

With full ownership and control of the building, Yale University renamed the building from St. Elmo Hall to Rosenfeld Hall in 1985 after the charitable donation by Richard N. Rosenfeld (Yale College B.A. 1963) to renovate the whole building [1 and 9]. With this donation, Yale University redesigned the ground floor to create a space for the Yale Language Library and Language Laboratory. The upper levels remained additional dormitory space to be used as an annex to Timothy Dwight College Students. Rosenfeld also endowed the future renovation for the entire Rosenfeld Hall building (including both the Language Lab and the dormitory space) with this donation [10].

Rosenfeld Hall remained the Yale Language Lab until 1994 when it was converted to be totally used as dormitory space for Timothy Dwight College for the 1995 year. One large classroom still remained to be used for Yale College classes. It still currently remains as dorm rooms for any undergraduate students annexed from the main building of Timothy Dwight College. This body of students usually consists mainly of Timothy Dwight juniors, as well as, some sophomores.

Rosenfeld Hall is located on the corner of Grove Street and Temple Street, adjacent from Timothy Dwight College, Silliman College, and Dow Hall (the current Center for Language Study). This area has a high building density but sits between Temple Street, which is mostly comprised of residential buildings, and Church Street/Whitney Avenue, which is mostly comprised of commercial buildings. Therefore, Rosenfeld Hall serves as the northeast edge of Yale’s downtown campus as everything eastward is part of New Haven’s business district and everything westward owned by Yale University. This location also sits at the foot of Yale’s Science Hill, as it is located on the street directly to the right of Hillhouse Avenue.

This location is highly visible to cars and pedestrians as the entrance faces the corner of Temple and Grove Streets. Grove Street is one of New Haven’s busiest streets as it runs westward through all of Yale’s campus, so car traffic and noise is frequent. Being located between residential and commercial buildings, on top of being close to Yale’s campus, also provides Rosenfeld Hall with a lot of foot traffic. 

      Rosenfeld Hall is shaped in an L form facing the corner of Grove and Temple Streets. The name Rosenfeld Hall is displayed directly on the left front wing of the building underneath a shield crest, while the left side just holds the shield crest. Hedges trim the Temple Street and Grove Street edges giving way to an open central pathway to the front door. Located on either side of the door and hedges are bike racks and benches.

The center of the building serves as the reflection point of the building as it is made of limestone compared to the brick sides. The tan limestone middle of the building resembles a short battle tower and distinct contrast from the rest of the building. The square tower consists of cross-shaped ornamentation above the Gothic arched entrance but below the second floor windows and the preceding turrets [6]. The top of the building accentuates the tower of a fortress image as it is lined with crenellated parapets and a shield topping the building [6].

           The wings of the building are made entirely of brick although their limestone lining highlights the windows. Closest and farthest from the tower are three vertical-paneled windows attached in a row with two double vertical windows evenly located between. The windows on the first floor follow a similar pattern except the three-paneled windows sit two located on top of each other as the first floor is significantly taller than the three successive floors.

           The fourth floor, or the attic, is different from the two lower floors as more crenellated parapets, again evoking this battle tower ideal, separate it. The fourth floor is also gray limestone creating a contrast from the red brick of the wings and the tan limestone center. From the fourth floor, the roof starts taking shape in a typical gable form. Two chimneys sit atop each of the wings, for a total of four.

           The street facing side of each wing, one looking towards Grove Street and the other Temple Street, consist of similar brick walls with limestone-trimmed windows. The only difference with these windows is that they protrude from the wall similar to a bay window style, instead of lying flat.

           On the inside of the building, a large foyer area awaits upon entrance with a small sitting room in front of you. To the right is a swipe access hallway consisting of three dorm rooms while to the left sits a large classroom. The second, third and fourth floor, accessible by stairs or an elevator in the middle of the building, consist solely of dorm rooms and bathrooms. The building itself has a basement, which contains a library, a laundry room, and a recycling and garbage room. On top of this though, there is a restricted sub-basement. This level, although currently used as storage space for miscellaneous items and for maintenance use as it holds access to the pipes, boiler room, and more, mainly consists of a large crypt that was previously used by the St. Elmo senior society. This crypt is where they would hold meetings and various activities and is comprised of a large square stone rectangle in the front of the room that sits on top an elevated surface and support beams decorated with skulls with wings meant for holding candles.

           Since its construction in 1912, Rosenfeld Hall has not been majorly renovated on its exterior although its inside has been slightly changed. It was only minorly changed to allow for the building to be used for the Yale Language Lab although it was then changed back to be used for entirely residential purposes.

Sources

1. 2006 Yale Endowment Report
2. Arnold G. Dana, Class of 1883, Yale College, Scrapbook Collection Titled "Yale: Old and New" (RU 867). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library, Volume 49, Page 60.
3. "Building Name Changes on the Yale Campus." Building Name Changes on the Yale Campus | Office of the President. https://president.yale.edu/advisory-groups/presidents-committees/committee-establish-principles-renaming/appendix-documents/building-name-changes.
4. Carroll, Richard C., Buildings and Grounds of Yale University 1979
5. Francis, Arthur Morius. Secret Societies Vol. 3: The Collegiate Secret Societies of America. Vol. 3. 2015.
6. Historic Resources Inventory – Buildings and Structures, New Haven Preservation trust, Connecticut Historical Commission, 1980
7. New Haven Directory (Hill - Donnelly, 1994)
8. New Haven Directory (Hill - Donnelly, 1995) 
9. “Remarks by Richard Rosenfeld on the Dedication of Rosenfeld Hall at Yale University”, September 21, 1985
10. Yale Daily News, Letter to the Editor no. 81, “Not just the sky is falling on St. Elmo’s”, January 31, 1986