
Saint Anthony Hall at Yale | Connecticut
The Anthony Trust Association oversees St. Anthony Hall at Yale, one of the Yale literary secret societies and also the Sigma Chapter of the Fraternity of Delta Psi. The current building was built in 1913, with a generous gift from Frederick W. Vanderbilt, grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt and the son of William Henry Vanderbilt. Frederick Vanderbilt was the next oldest brother of George Washington Vanderbilt II and had been a member of St. Anthony Hall, when he attended the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale. Frederick commissioned a number of buildings at Yale designed by the architect Charles C. Haight, including St. Anthony Hall. Given the dates, Haight and Vanderbilt would have engaged Rafael Guastavino, Jr. to do the work on the domed ceiling in a basement room in our building we call “The Crypt.” Perhaps Frederick Vanderbilt had seen Guastavino’s work in the Biltmore? The Crypt has a wonderful sound parabola, where someone standing in one corner can whisper and be heard across the room by someone standing in the opposite corner.
