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Charles D. Abbott Hall
Former Names:
Lockwood Memorial Library (1933-1977), Charles D. Abbott Library (1977-1985)
Abbott Hall currently houses the Health Sciences Library and is commonly referred to as just "the Health Sciences Library." It was known as the Lockwood Memorial Library until 1977 when it was renamed the Charles D. Abbott Library and the name "Lockwood Memorial Library" was transferred to a new library building on UB's North Campus (see the online exhibit, 25th Anniversary of the Dedication of Lockwood Memorial Library for more information on the history of the two Lockwood Libraries).
In his introductory remarks at the dedication ceremony, Chancellor Samuel Capen remarked upon the importance of a library to the University:
"Books do not become less imporant as universities open up new intellectual territory and devise new ways of probing the mysteries of nature and of human life. They become ever more important... And the library itself remains, the repository of learning, the tool without which every student young or old is impotent, the veritable cornerstone upon which the whole intellectual structure of the university rests."
Later in his address, Capen touched upon the exceptional collections of rare books and manuscripts Thomas Brown Lockwood donated to the new library:
"A collection of useful books, of standard books, of books easily obtained -- however sumptiously housed -- does not make a university library of the first order. To merit this distinction a university library must preserve... the recorded writings of the centuries. It must offer the scholar the inspiration and surety of the original source. It must be able to fire the imagination of the neophyte by bringing him into the physcial presence of hte great momuments of letters... The University of Buffalo today becomes the possessor... of an extraordinary collection of literary treasures assembled with the insight and purpose of rare discrimination, representing an unbroken chain of the masterpieces of five centuries. The Library of the University of Buffalo today takes rank among the leading university libraries of the United States."
Namesake: Charles David Abbott (1900-1961) was the director of the University Libraries from 1934 to 1960. An authority on modern poetry, he was a prolific book collector and the founder the University's Twentieth-Century Poetry in English Collection. Read more about Charles Abbott and the development of the 20th century English poetry collections on the Poetry Collection's website. Thomas Brown Lockwood (1873-1947), Buffalo attorney, financier, literary enthusiast, and member of the UB Council (1919-1947), donated his collection of rare books and manuscripts. Thomas Bell and Marion Birge Lockwood gave $500,000 for a library building to be known as the Lockwood Memorial Library in memory of Daniel N. Lockwood and George K. Birge. Since the money was given for the building to be named after both sets of parents, perhaps it should have been called "The Lockwood and Birge Memorial Library," although officially it has always been "The Lockwood Memorial Library." Lockwood also gave the University an additional $100,000 as an endowment for the new library. History and Chronology
Building and Construction Information |
Original Contruction (1933-1935)Architects: Edward B. Green & Son |
Renovation (1983-1985)Architects: Scaffidi & Moore |
Renovations including doubling the size of the facility, retrofitting the mechanical infrastructure, moving the entrance, and reconfiguring the space to accommodate an increasingly electronic information center.
