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The Health Sciences Library
was founded, along with the medical school in 1846. A chronology
developed by Lilli Sentz, former Curator, lists significant events
and librarians from HSL's founding through 1995.
Equally interesting is the history of HSL's current location, Abbott Hall on the South Campus of the University at Buffalo. Originally named Lockwood Memorial Library, the building was a gift of Thomas B. Lockwood (1873-1947, a Buffalo attorney), and his wife, Marion Birge Lockwood, in memory of their respective parents, Daniel N. Lockwood and George K. Birge. The building was designed by eminent architect E.B. Green and built at a cost of $500,000. A brief summary of the building's evolution resides on the University Library Archives Web site.
E.B. Green modeled the original elegant building after the Villa Rotunda by the Renaissance architect Palladio. When renovated for HSL in the mid-1980s, great care was taken to preserve the original reading room, which patrons entered after climbing the impressive stairway and passing through the beautiful stone columns.
Green designed the now named Austin Flint Reading Room as a replica of a room in Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, England. Tthe room features English oak paneling and a huge fireplace with an intricately carved mantel modelled after a mantel in England's Canonbury Tower. All the wood in the room was carved by the Lipsett brothers, immigrants from Germany who worked for the Kittinger Company, a famous Buffalo furniture manufacturer who constructed furniture for the White House,
The twin antique chandeliers were originally constructed in the 1840s and electrified in the 1930s when they were installed here. Green was demolishing the Tudor mansion of John J. Albright (which he also designed) in 1935 during the same time he was overseeing the building of Lockwood. He chose to salvage not only the chandeliers but also the stone balustrade, which still graces the original front of Abbott Hall. A bit more background on Albright with photos of his mansion can be found on the Western New York Heritage Press web site.
| http://ublib.buffalo.edu/hsl/tour/history.html | Created: 16 September 2003 | Revised: 13 January 2005 |
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