Sloane Physics Laboratory

SPL lies firmly within Yale’s central campus, specifically Science Hill. It’s nestled between other labs and halls and would be easily visible from the street if not for the endless Science Hill construction (like seriously, I’m not convinced that blue fence isn’t eternal). (I’m going to pretend for the rest of this paragraph that my street-view of SPL isn’t from google maps, though that in and of itself says something- Yale takes over an area, privatizes it, then hides it from the street with eternal construction? Curious.) SPL lies firmly in the midst of Yale’s campus, so I believe it to exist within Yale’s setting which has (for a variety of reasons) firmly separated itself from the rest of New Haven’s urban setting, as was designed by the Pope Plan.⁵ Its architecture is very collegiate gothic, feeling very “elite” and very not the norm of the non-Yaleish parts of New Haven. SPL is part of Yale, which is part (albeit in its own separate way) in New Haven. I don’t think it bears any more responsibility in perpetuating this separation than any other building on Yale’s campus/science hill, but it does undeniably take part in it. Through being part of Yale and feeding into the “rich” collegiate-gothic style, it plays into the Urban Setting by feeding into the separation between Yale and New Haven.

The land SPL now occupies was originally part of Sachem Wood and the Hillhouse Estate (as seen on the images of the Sanborn Fire Maps as shown below). When Yale acquired the land to expand campus, it extended Yale’s reach beyond the Sheff, to mixed reviews from students. SPL replaced the old Sloane Physical Laboratory, which was on Library Street near Old Campus and began the pattern of physical separation of Yale humanities and sciences. The new SPL was built with a donation from the brothers William and Henry Sloane.³ Yale has a bad habit of encroaching on New Haven’s land and residents, but this is one of the few cases where I hesitate to say is the case. James Hillhouse (of the Hillhouse Estate SPL was built on) was a Yale man (graduate and university treasurer) with Yale money and a lot of power.⁸ He was not a typical New Haven resident, so I really can’t say this is a case of Yale perpetuating an unequal balance and pressure against New Haven. That being said, it was the first that far up campus so it could be said it began the pattern of that “upward” expansion that led to the Divinity School, Science Park, and more directly eating into residential and commercial parts of New Haven.

Quite frankly, SPL (of the very rich, very white Yale) sits on the site that once was the Hillhouse Estate (also notable for being very rich, very white, and very Yale). The Hillhouse Estate was private land in the hands of a very wealthy man, so I hesitate to say SPL’s development there is encroaching on New Haven. In regards to its physical location, the extension of Yale up Prospect street feels negligible when Yale opened the Divinity School in its current location further up Prospect, which now establishes the uppermost reach of Yale’s core campus in New Haven, in 1932, 20 years after SPL’s opening.⁶ This isn’t to fully disregard SPL as means to extend Yale’s reach, but it would very quickly be dwarfed by the acquisition of the land that would be the Div School, construction, development, etc. What is most notable about SPL socially was its involvement in (or, rather the people within’s involvement in) the development of nuclear science and the Manhattan Project, notably Gregory Breit (who also served on the Uranium Committee of the National Defense Research Committee and the Fast Neutron Project at the University of Chicago). Jonathan Setiabrata of Yale Scientific writes, “Upon joining the Yale faculty at Sloane, Breit suggested that he ‘bring along as staff members…[some who had] appointments here as Project associates.’ As Breit’s correspondence with Yale prior to his employment indicates, he asked Yale to allow some of the students who worked with him on the Project to be part of his research team at Sloane. Yale agreed to hire Breit’s associates from the Project for his research team, thereby bringing more Project scientists into the Yale faculty. By the time Breit worked on the hydrogen bomb—first detonated in 1952—Breit had used his experimental findings from Sloane and Chicago to contribute to that project.” ⁷ Quite frankly, I’m unaware of SPL itself coming under any fire due to its nuclear involvement, however, given the results of the research carried within, it is worth mentioning and seriously considering Yale’s part in bringing about the nuclear age, both good and bad. It’s also worth noting a significant amount of records regarding the particle accelerator on campus (notably not in SPL) was filed within/with SPL documents.

SPL lies firmly within Yale’s central campus, specifically Science Hill. It’s nestled between other labs and halls and would be easily visible from the street if not for the endless Science Hill construction (like seriously, I’m not convinced that blue fence isn’t eternal). (I’m going to pretend for the rest of this paragraph that my street-view of SPL isn’t from google maps, though that in and of itself says something- Yale takes over an area, privatizes it, then hides it from the street with eternal construction? Curious.) SPL lies firmly in the midst of Yale’s campus, so I believe it to exist within Yale’s setting which has (for a variety of reasons) firmly separated itself from the rest of New Haven’s urban setting, as was designed by the Pope Plan.⁵ Its architecture is very collegiate gothic, feeling very “elite” and very not the norm of the non-Yaleish parts of New Haven. SPL is part of Yale, which is part (albeit in its own separate way) in New Haven. I don’t think it bears any more responsibility in perpetuating this separation than any other building on Yale’s campus/science hill, but it does undeniably take part in it. Through being part of Yale and feeding into the “rich” collegiate-gothic style, it plays into the Urban Setting by feeding into the separation between Yale and New Haven.

SPL is past OML and Sage Hall on Prospect Street. It has a nice little lawn on a nice little hill with nice little trees. It feels little from the street. It’s smaller than the hall next to it and dwarfed by Kline Tower (KT) in the background. SCL to its left is large and foreboding, yet SPL pushes onwards with its own turreted tower (a defense?) and darkened stone. SPL as a building sticks out from the rest of science hill- it looks smaller, it’s darker, and it’s older than every other building on the plot of land. Its brownstone is darker than its neighbor Sage and gabled roof separates it from neighboring SCL. It feels small and different, which almost feels like a weird allegory made in an english class given its role in researching small and different things (ex. the atom and hydrogen bombs, particle acceleration, theoretical and quantum physics, etc).



The interior is far more charming and absolutely intriguing. I have mentioned the odd doors that litter SPL’s insides and the radioactive bricks, but the continual use (100 years!) of a building to study what is the most modern of physics while it is actively evolving is nothing short of remarkable. There’s two primary entrances (one by the parking lot and one through a path that currently cuts through a construction site (this is the main entrance)). There’s a number of classrooms, labs, lecture halls, and study spaces inside. The labs are all (at least to my knowledge) still in use and have signage notating dangerous chemicals/materials/ radioactive stuff. Some prep/storage rooms appear abandoned, some with equipment that looks decades old. There is also a lounge upstairs with a ping pong table and mathematical origami.



Something notable is that the floorplans of the building show only two floors, a basement, and sub basement, but there is a third floor. I have no other proof other than the picture I took of the view from it and the elevator buttons showing three floors. I was unable to find blueprints or plans in the archives for this floor.

¹ “SLOANE PHYSICS LABORATORY.” Christopher Williams Architects, LLC, n.d. https://cwarchitectsllc.com/projects/sloane-physics-laboratory/.



² Department of Physics, Yale University, Records (RU 417). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library. https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/12/resources/2036

Includes A Letter to Prof. H. A. Bumstead from The McLagon Foundry C.

Includes A Letter to Prof. H. A. Bumstead from WM Keane & Son.



³ Arnold G. Dana, Class of 1883, Yale College, Scrapbook Collection Titled "Yale: Old and New" (RU 867). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library. https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/12/resources/2722



⁴ Ryan, Susan (with the New Haven Preservation Trust). “Sloane Physics Laboratory.” Connecticut Historical Commission, Historic Resources Inventory: Buildings and Structures. \



⁵Scully, Vincent, Catherine Lynn, Erik Vogt, and Paul Goldberger. Yale in New Haven: Architecture & Urbanism. New Haven: Yale University, 2004.



⁶ “History of the Divinity School.” Nature of the Divinity School. Accessed October 10, 2023. https://catalog.yale.edu/div/nature-divinity-school/history-divinity-school/.



⁷ Setiabrata, Jonathan. “Manhattan Project on Science Hill.” Yale Scientific, September 1, 2010. https://www.yalescientific.org/2010/09/historical-archives-manhattan-project-on-science-hill/.



⁸ “James Hillhouse.” Wikipedia, August 31, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hillhouse.