Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library

The Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library is part of The George Washington University Medical Center. It opened in 1973, when the new medical school (located in Ross Hall) moved from 1337 H Street, N.W. to its current location in Foggy Bottom. The Paul Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library and the Walter G. Ross Hall were dedicated May 24, 1973. The bulk of funding for the new building came from Paul Himmlefarb, a self-taught Jewish immigrant who came to Baltimore from Poland in 1890. He made his fortune in oil and real estate and later became a philanthropist. His gift made possible the library named after him, a $10 million structure which was designed to seat 399 readers within its three stories of public space. Its capacity was expandable to 80,000 volumes and 1,500 periodicals, and its audio visual center was among the first of its kind in the nation. N.B. This history note was written in 2005.