1919年落成，原名顾斐德纪念体育室。其东侧游泳池是上海首个学校室内游泳池。1949年5月，解放上海斗争中最后一个牺牲的中共地下党员陈仲信烈士的遗体在体育室入殓。1952年，改名为体育室。2016年10月，学校将体育文化博物馆建于体育室内。
1918年圣约翰大学将简易健身房拆除，于此之上建造顾斐德纪念体育室，1919年11月15日建筑正式完工。
In 1918, the simple gym was demolished by St. John’s University and the F. C. Copper Gymnasium was built on the exact site on November 15, 1919.
该室为两层混合结构，楼顶四角为曲线形，四方各有烟囱竖立，飞檐翘角的中式大屋顶下是简洁的红砖立面，红色木制窗格，继承了圣约翰早年的建筑风格。体育室底层东侧为游泳池，上架玻璃天棚，长约18.29米，宽约6.10米，池底和四壁均用白色瓷砖砌成，在当时非常罕见，是上海第一个学校室内游泳池。
It was a two-storey building with a mixed structure: the four corners of the roof were curved, with chimneys erected on the four sides; under the large Chinese roof featuring upturned eaves, there were simple red brick facades with red wooden panes. The building inherited the architectural style of St. John’s in its early years. The east section of the ground floor of the gymnasium was a swimming pool with a glass canopy. It was about 18.29 meters long and 6.10 meters wide. The bottom and four walls of the pool were all built with white ceramic tiles, which were very rare at that time. It was the first indoor swimming pool in universities in Shanghai.
1949年5月25日，上海解放前夕，担任省吾中学第三届学生地下党支部组织委员的陈仲信，骑自行车赶往设在圣约翰大学的人民保安队长宁区指挥部开会，途中（万航渡路1562号中山公园3号门东侧30米左右），被溃退在苏州河北岸的国民党残军枪击牺牲，年仅20岁。5月27日，陈仲信烈士的遗体在体育室入殓。陈仲信是解放上海斗争中最后一个牺牲的中共地下党员。
On May 25, 1949, one day before the liberation of Shanghai, when Chen Zhongxin, an organizing committee member of the Third Student Underground Party Branch of Xingwu Middle School, was on his way by bicycle to the headquarters of People’s Security Corps of Changning District located in St. John’s University for a meeting, he was shot dead (about 30 meters east to Gate3 of the Zhongshan Park, No. 1562 Wanhangdu Road)by the remnants of Kuomintang army that had retreated to the north bank of the Suzhou River. He was only 20 years old. On May 27, martyr Chen Zhongxin’s funeral was held in the Gymnasium. Chen Zhongxin was the last underground member of the Communist Party of China that sacrificed in the fight of Shanghai’s liberation.
1952年华东政法学院成立后，顾斐德纪念体育室更名为体育室。2016年10月，为进一步发挥高校服务社会、传承文化的职能，华政将体育文化博物馆建于体育室内，将校园打造成具有浓厚体育文化意蕴之地。馆内陈列了130余件珍贵藏品，既有第一枚古奥运钱币、中国人带回来的第一枚奥运会官方参与者纪念章，也有圣约翰大学“光与真理”碑石，圣约翰大学校友使用过的网球拍、垒球棒、棒球手套等。
In 1952, after the establishment of East China Institute of Politics and Law, the F. C. Copper Gymnasium was renamed the Gymnasium. In October, 2016, in order to fulfill its social responsibilities for the local community, ECUPL built a Sports Culture Museum inside the Gymnasium open to the public. More than 130 valuable collection items are on display in the museum, including the first ancient Olympic coin, the first official medal of honor for participants in the Olympic Games awarded to a Chinese national, the stele of “Light and Truth” from St. John’s University as well as tennis rackets, softball bats and baseball gloves once used by the alumni of St. John’s University.
