October 1953

“General plans for the construction of the new Edward S. Harkness Memorial Residence Hall, generous gift of the Commonwealth Fund, have been completed as the result of several meetings of the Building Committee with the architects, Douglas Orr of New Haven and Guglar, Kimball & Husted of New York. … It is hoped that ground can be broken early in 1954 and that the new quarters for Yale medical students can be finished and equipped for occupancy in September 1955. …

“One wing, of eleven stories and ground floor, will provide 219 single rooms for male students, as well as ten suites for students or graduate advisors. The other wing, four stories high, will contain thirty-five small apartments. The latter will be occupied by pairs of single women students and by a few married medical students and their wives. The single rooms will include lavatories and built-in closets. Shower rooms will be provided on each floor. The apartments will consist of a living room, bedroom, bath, and kitchenette unit. The apartment wing will have its own entrance and will also communicate with the main lounge. Each wing will have its own automatic elevators. Other living quarters will include a large apartment for a resident manager and his family and a living room-bedroom-bath combination for the accommodation of visiting lecturers and other guests of the school. …

“Comfort and convenience have been emphasized. … The completion of the new residence hall should increase significantly the efficiency and well being of the able group of young men and women studying at the School of Medicine.”