Meiling Hall, opened in 1970, is located on the campus of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Located next door to University Hospital, students attend clinical lectures and classes here. Additionally, Meiling houses administrative offices of the College of Medicine, Office of Health Sciences and the Medical Center. It has also been known as the Medical College Administration building or center. It was named Richard L. Meiling Hall by the University Board of Trustee in 1984. The two stained- glass window murals in the building are meant “…to present the history of medicine through the ages, and to correlate this history with the past and future role of The Ohio State University College of Medicine, its faculty, students and graduates.” They were designed and crafted by the Willet Studio of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Willet Studio and the College of Medicine began collaborating on this installation in 1969. Prior Hall houses the Health Science Library on floors one through five and opened 1971-1972. Floors six and seven, which were added in 2010, are home to multiple academic and clinical departments of the College of Medicine. Originally the building was simply known as the Health Sciences Library. In 1988 it was named for John A. Prior. The mural, which stretches across 67 feet of wall space on the first floor, is made of marble, onyx, silica metal oxides and glass with gold leaf veneer. It was created by Marguerite Gaudin of the Willet Studio and installed in 1974. The mural illustrates the advancement of human communication throughout history. During building renovations in the 1990s the mural was cleaned and restored.
The Meiling Hall Stained Glass and Prior Hall Mural Records (2 linear feet) contains materials documenting the design, cost, and installation of stained-glass window murals in Meiling Hall and a mural in Prior Hall.
This collection is arranged in two series:
Series I: Media (1 box) contains black and white and color photographs of the stained-glass windows in Meiling Hall. There are also photographs of the building exterior. For ease of use, photographs were separated from paper records.
Series II: Records (2 boxes) contain correspondence, information about the history of medicine and The Ohio State University College of Medicine, newspaper articles, original artwork, pamphlets, and receipts documenting the design and installation of stained glass in Meiling Hall and the mural in Prior Hall. Paper records were rehoused in the order in which they were received from Willet Hauser.
The collection is open to the public and is available for viewing in the Medical Heritage Center. Materials do not circulate and must be used in the supervised reading room. Restrictions, including copyright, may exist and some materials may be too fragile to photocopy or digitize. The MHC charges for duplication services, which must be performed by staff.
[Identification of item], Meiling Hall Stained Glass and Prior Hall Mural Records, SPEC.202416.MEILINGHALL, Medical Heritage Center, Health Sciences Library, The Ohio State University.