Allen Memorial Medical Library

Allen Memorial Medical Library is a medical library building in Cleveland featuring a limestone exterior on a pink marble base with bronze doors. Inside, a grand marble staircase leads to research collections serving medical students and health professionals at Case Western Reserve University.

The building was founded in 1926 by Elisabeth Severance Allen Prentiss to honor her late husband Dr. Dudley Peter Allen, who had established the Cleveland Medical Library Association. This creation reflected broader efforts to professionalize medical education and research in early 20th century America.

Four murals depicting Asklepios hang above the grand staircase, created by artist Cora Millet Holden to inspire medical students and practitioners. These paintings shape how visitors experience the interior spaces and connect medical science with artistic expression.

The building is easy to identify and houses multiple functions including an auditorium and museum under one roof. Visitors should know this is primarily an academic research and teaching facility serving the university community.

The building houses a 450-seat auditorium that serves both teaching functions and contains the Dittrick Museum of Medical History. This museum holds medical artifacts and collections found nowhere else in similar combination.

Location: Cleveland

Inception: 1926

Founders: Elisabeth Severance Prentiss

Architects: Walker and Weeks

Part of: Case Western Reserve University

Address: 11000 Euclid Avenue

GPS coordinates: 41.50603,-81.60856

Latest update: December 14, 2025 11:24