History of the GF

(Found this in the backwoods of the NSSR website... enjoy.)

On it's 35th Anniversary:
A Short History of the GF at 65 Fifth Avenue
~ Yannet Lathrop


Thanks to Librarian Carmen Hendershott at the Raymond Fogelman Library for her assistance with this article.

Thirty-five years ago, the Albert List Academic Center at 65 Fifth Avenue - better known by current students simply as "the GF building" - first opened its doors as the main site for the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science. But before the building bustled with students, 65 Fifth Avenue had a life - or two - all its own.

65 Fifth Avenue is an historical address. As late as 1881, it was a four-story brownstone, under lease to house the headquarters of Thomas Edison's "new" electrical company. On April 4 of the same year, it had its fifteen minutes of fame when it became the first building to be lit exclusively by electricity.

Sometime after 1881, the brownstone was demolished and, in 1951, 65 Fifth Avenue was turned into the New York City home of Lanes department store, a Canadian enterprise famous during its heyday for women's hats.

Around 1967, 65 Fifth Avenue was acquired by the New School for Social Research, and its renovation for educational use began under the guidance of architects Frederick G. Frost, Jr. and associates. The acquisition and renovation of the building was partially funded by the U.S. Office of Education and the New York State Dormitory Authority.

The building originally was to be "devoted exclusively to the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, which was established in 1933, and has experienced a dramatic growth in enrollment since 1960," according to "A Home for the Graduate Faculty," an article printed in the New School Bulletin, Vol. 25, No. 3 (October 1967).

In 1968, 65 Fifth Avenue was officially named the Albert List Academic Center, in honor of University Trustee Albert List, whose funding and support for the renovation of the building for academic use were invaluable. Other important figures who made the renovation of the building possible were New York businessmen Meshulam Riklis and Arthur Cohen.

On February 3, 1969, the Graduate Faculty opened the 65 Fifth Avenue building for classes. Around the time of the building's inauguration, then GF Dean Joseph Greenbaum pledged, "We will make every effort during this period of expansion to preserve the character of the Graduate Faculty as an institution which places emphasis on an international academic community." This promise has been well kept.