原名交誼室，1929年落成。20世紀30年代，交誼室成為黨總支部開展工作的根據地。1949年5月，解放軍第三野戰軍陳毅司令員在指揮上海戰役時，選擇圣約翰大學交誼室作為“解放上海第一宿營地”。1952年11月15日，交誼室大交誼廳迎來了華東政法學院首屆開學典禮。
交誼樓原名交誼室。1929年12月14日，該室的落成典禮與圣約翰大學建校50周年紀念會及紀念坊揭幕典禮一起舉行。
The Social Building was formerly known as “the Social Hall”. On December 14, 1929, the inauguration of the hall was held in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of St. John’s University and the opening ceremony of the Memorial Archway.
交誼樓最引人矚目的地方，在于她的色彩，紅色與綠色的搭配竟能如此協調，張揚卻不狂妄，呈現出一種獨特的意蘊。交誼樓底層正立面為水泥墻，有三座拱門，周邊白色石材上刻有對稱的中式花紋，二、三層內部結構實為一層，外側與底部拱門相對之處由四根紅柱劃分出三個開間，兩側則是紅磚墻。綠色琉璃瓦鋪設頂層，四面檐角各立有七只瑞獸，檐下有飛椽，柱頂由額枋和額墊板相連，額枋相連處飾有紅綠相間的中國宮殿式建筑彩繪。
The striking aspect of the Social Building was its coloring of an amazing match of red and green, flamboyant but never presumptuous, rendering the building a unique and style. The ground floor facade of the Social Building was a concrete wall which had three arches with symmetrical Chinese patterns carved in the white stones on their edges. The internal structure of the first and second floors was actually one storey, outside of which, the space opposite the arches in the ground floor, was divided into three rooms by four red pillars, with red brick walls on both sides. Green glazed tiles were laid on the top roof, and on the four corners of the eaves were each decorated with seven small sculptures of mythical animals, with flying-rafters under the eaves; the top of the pillars were connected by the architraves and cushion boards. The connecting parts of the architraves were decorated by red alternating with green Chinese palace-style architectural paintings.
20世紀30年代，抗戰爆發，滬西租界成了“孤島”。中共地下黨圣約翰總支部傳播紅色聲音，交誼室便成為黨總支部開展工作的根據地。1948年，圣約翰學生在中共地下黨支部的領導下，開展了旨在“反美扶日”的學生抗議運動，并在交誼室舉辦了“民族展覽會”，引起極大反響。1949年5月，中國人民解放軍第三野戰軍司令員陳毅在指揮上海戰役時，于26日凌晨進駐上海，其第一宿營地就是交誼室。當東方微微發白之時，陳毅從交誼室走到大草坪，與該處執勤的地下黨學生交談。當天上午陳毅一行乘車去蘇州河南岸市區視察，下午，進駐瑞金二路開始接管上海工作。次日，上海解放。為紀念這處“解放上海第一宿營地”，華東政法學院于2002年5月在交誼樓南墻豎立石碑。1952年11月15日，交誼室大交誼廳迎來了華東政法學院首屆開學典禮。
In the 1930s, with the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the Western Shanghai Concession became an “isolated island”. The General Branch of the Underground Communist Party of China (at St. John’s University) made the Social Building a base to voice revolutionary messages. In 1948, under the leadership of the branch of the Underground Communist Party of China, students of St. John’s University launched a protest movement to “Oppose the USA’s Supporting Japan”, and also organised an “the Exhibition of Nationalities” in the Social Hall, both drawing a huge public response. In May, 1949, when Chen Yi, the commander of the Third Field Army of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, was in command of the Shanghai battle, chose the Social Building as his first campsite in Shanghai in the early hours of the morning of the 26th. When the dawn was breaking, Chen walked out of the Social Building to the grand lawn and chatted with student members of the Underground Communist Party who were on duty there. In the morning, Chen Yi and his entourage went by bus to the southern bank of the Suzhou River to inspect the urban area, and in the afternoon, they moved into Ruijin 2nd Road and took over the administration of Shanghai. The next day, Shanghai was liberated. To commemorate this “first camp for Shanghai’s liberation”, East China Institute of Politics and Law erected a stone tablet on the southern wall of the Social Building in May, 2002. On November 15, 1952, the bigger Social Hall of the Social Building finally welcomed the first opening ceremony of East China Institute of Politics and Law.
