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| 1837 Branford Court of Branford College towards Wrexham Tower |
Branford College is one of the 12 residential colleges at Yale University, the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1701 as the Collegiate School, and moved in 1716 to New Haven, where it is even today. Inaugurated in 1933, these colleges are considered the defining feature of undergraduate life in Yale College. Eight of them were funded by educational philanthropist Edward S. Harkness, who admired the collegiate universities of England and funded a similar system of residential "houses" at Harvard College in 1928.
The eight colleges, designed by James Gamble Rogers, are largely Collegiate Gothic and Georgian, and all but two use revivalist architectural styles. All 12 are built in an enclosing configuration around a central courtyard. Each has a dining hall, library, recreational facilities, a Master's House, apartments for resident fellows and Dean, and 250 to 400 student rooms, with most arranged in suites. Branford College was founded in 1933 by partitioning the Memorial Quadrangle (built in 1917-1921) into two parts: Saybrook and Branford. The building was donated by Anna M. Harkness to memorialize her son, Yale College graduate Charles W. Harkness, who died in 1916.
The building is divided into 7 courtyards, which Rogers framed with materials and decorative elements giving each distinct character. Three - Killingworth Court, Saybrook Court, and the largest, Branford Court - commemorate Connecticut towns significant to the school's founding, and a fourth, Wrexham Court, the resting place of Elihu Yale. The building's masonry exterior is richly ornamented, and much of the decoration commemorates distinguished university graduates. G. Owen Bonawit designed unique stained glass windowpanes for each student room.Wrexham Tower was modeled after the tower of St. Giles Court in Wrexham, Wales, where Elihu Yale is buried.
About the stamps
The first stamp is part of the definitives series American Design (2002-2007), about which I wrote here. About the second stamp, depicting the president Abraham Lincoln, I wrote here. The last two stamps are part of the series Modern Art in America: 1913-1931, about which I wrote here.
References
Branford College - Wikipedia
Branford College - Yale University official website
The Courtyards - Saybrook College website
Sender: Denise
Sent from Greenvale (New York / United States), on 06.04.2014
Photo: Andre Jenny / 1996
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