Which way does the wind blow?

“You don’t need a weatherman/to know which way the wind blows.”

Bob Dylan sang these words 61 years ago, but they feel apropos when weathervanes become the subject of modern curiosity, particularly those atop Yale buildings. Weathervanes, or vanes, were the weathermen of yesteryear, serving as essential tools for farmers and sailors before barometers and Doppler radar.

Originating in Europe, the earliest vane on record stood skyward on of the Tower of the Winds in Athens around 50 BCE. Early settlers brought the tool to America, where its use peaked in the post-Civil War era. While largely utilitarian, weathervanes were also symbolic works of art on the roofs, cupolas, and spires of churches, barns, businesses, and public buildings¹.

The weathervanes that adorn many Yale buildings, including Sterling Memorial Library, Timothy Dwight College, the Ray Tompkins house, and Davenport College, echo the Collegiate Gothic style of architecture that was largely practiced at Yale by James Gamble Rogers at Yale in the early 20^th century. Rogers famously used techniques to make new buildings look as if they had existed for centuries, evoking the historical, religious, and scholarly traditions of medieval European universities. By emphasizing the highest points of buildings — characteristic of Gothic architecture — weathervanes added a sense of age and authenticity to Rogers’ vision.

Sterling Memorial Library

There are two weathervanes that top Sterling Memorial Library (SML): an owl and a medieval-like banner. The owl has perched in place since 1930, forged in copper and iron by well-known blacksmith Samuel Yellin. A close-up reveals details of feathers, ears, eyes, and clawed feet, which is a construction known as swell-bodied, when two pieces of copper are soldered together for a three-dimensional appearance. The second vane resembles a medieval banner in flat copper and has a cutout of Hebrew script. Both the banner and the owl are set on a feathered arrow above ornate directional markers.

Davenport College

A double weathervane sits on high at Davenport College, one of Yale’s 14 residential colleges. Its namesake is the Rev. John Davenport (1597–1670), a descendant of the Davenports of Cheshire, England, and one of the founders of the New Haven Colony. Designed by James Gamble Rogers and completed in 1933, the college melds Gothic and Georgian styles and its vane features a banner and a circle, each with an arrow.

Ray Tompkins House

A single sculler in midstroke is fabricated in copper and perches on the weathervane above Ray Tompkins House, the Athletic department’s administrative building. A nod to the country’s oldest collegiate athletic team, the vane rises vertically from the building that was designed by New York architect John Russell Pope in honor of Ray Tompkins, class of 1884. Funds were provided through a bequest by Sarah Wey Tompkins in memory of her husband, one of the most lauded football players in the early history of the sport at Yale.

Timothy Dwight College