OHSU Auditorium/Old Library

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

The Auditorium/Old Library building, dedicated on June 7, 1940, was the first library building on the Marquam Hill campus of University of Oregon Medical School (now OHSU). Construction began in December 1938, and the Library moved into the new building in October 1939. In the twenty-first century, the building came to house event and conference space, library storage, the Teaching and Learning Center, the Office for International Affairs, and the Student Access office.

Images

Future site of the Old Library and Auditorium, circa 1938.

Black and white photograph of the future site of the Old Library and Auditorium. Includes view of men in physicians attire and surveyors equipment.

Exterior of the Old Library and Auditorium, circa 1940.

Black and white photograph of the Old Library building, framed by clouds and several young trees. Image taken facing southwest.

John E. Weeks, M.D., next to the dedication plaque in the Library and Auditorium, 1940.

Black and white photograph of John E. Weeks, M.D., standing next to the dedication plaque and bench in the foyer of the Library and Auditorium. The plaque is in honor of Dr. Weeks who donated $100,000 towards the construction of the Library.

Patrons researching at the Old Library, 1944.

Black and white photograph of patrons at the Old Library engaged in research/reading at wooden tables surrounded by bookshelves.

Patron reading in the Physician's Reading room in the Old Library, circa 1960s.

Black and white photograph of an unidentified man reading in the Physicians Reading room located in the Old Library. In the corner, an Eames-style chair is visible next to a lamp.

Library staff at the circulation desk in the Old Library, 1947. Left to right: Bertha Brandon Hallam (Librarian), Margaret Hughes, Ora Goodman and Lolita McElveny.

Black and white photograph of library staff at the circulation desk in the Old Library. From left to right: Bertha Brandon Hallam (Librarian), Margaret Hughes, Ora Goodman and Lolita McElveny.

View of reference activities at the Old Library, circa 1945.

Black and white photograph of reference activities at the Old Library, including students sitting at a long table lined with books, and two students standing and looking at books next to a shelf.

Bertha Hallam, first librarian at OHSU, with a student, circa 1950s.

Black and white photograph of Bertha Hallam, in a floral patterned dress, assisting a student in a suit, in front of library bookshelves.

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

For the first two decades of the University of Oregon Medical School's time on the Marquam Hill campus, library facilities were located in small (20' by 30') quarters inside of the Medical Science Building (later Mackenzie Hall), along with classrooms, laboratories and central services such as the telephone switchboard.

In May 1937, Dr. John E. Weeks, a retired ophthalmologist and member of the library committee, announced a $100,000 gift to build the first dedicated library building for the University of Oregon Medical School, if a matching amount could be found. Dean Richard Dillehunt flew immediately to New York to request a second $100,000 from the Rockefeller Foundation, which was granted the following year. A federal PWA (Public Works Administration) grant of $163,350 was also secured later to make a total of $363,350.

The building was planned in consultation with the founding librarian for the medical school library, Bertha Hallam, who oversaw the Library from 1919 until her retirement in 1965. School of Medicine Dean Richard B. Dillehunt described the proposed building in a January 23, 1938 newspaper article as having "space for 100,000 books, assembly hall, reading rooms, storage stacks, and an historical division." The south end of the building would house a dedicated auditorium. The north end would be connected to a newly-built west-end laboratory wing of Mackenzie Hall by a brick passageway that would enter the hall on the second floor. This brick passageway would be later removed in 1994 to provide easier access to new buildings behind Mackenzie Hall.

The building was designed by architect Ellis F. Lawrence, who also designed Baird Hall, the Campus Services Building, Dillehunt Hall, OHSU Hospital South (1953-57 portion only), Outpatient Clinic (original and additions through 1953), and the 1956 School of Dentistry building (no longer standing).

A portion of the collection and the majority of staff moved to the Biomedical Information Communication Center building in 1991. Remaining library space closed to patron access in September 2002. Now primarily known as the OHSU Auditorium, the building houses a mix of conference space, library storage, and administrative and student services offices.

Sources

"Medical School wins large gift." Oregonian (Portland, Oregon), January 23, 1938: 1. NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current.

OHSU Library. "History of the Library." 1999. UOMS/OHSU Library records, 1998-015. Historical Collections & Archives, OHSU Library.

"Portrait of a Librarian," What's Going On? At University of Oregon Medical School, Summer 1965: 12-14. Historical Collections & Archives, OHSU Library.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

OHSU Digital Collections, https://doi.org/10.6083/M40K2744

OHSU Digital Collections, https://doi.org/10.6083/M4N29VHW

OHSU Digital Collections, https://doi.org/10.6083/M4BV7F11

OHSU Digital Collections, https://doi.org/10.6083/M4P26WKC

OHSU Digital Collections, https://doi.org/10.6083/M4KH0KXD

OHSU Digital Collections, https://doi.org/10.6083/M4T43RMZ

OHSU Digital Collections, https://doi.org/10.6083/M4G73C99

OHSU Digital Collections, https://doi.org/10.6083/M4MC8XMG