Gelman Library
From GWUEncyc
Building
Title: Melvin Gelman Library
Address: 2130 H Street, N.W.
Square and lot, bordering streets: Square 79 (G, H, 21st, 22nd Streets)
Architect: Mills, Petticord & Mills
Date of construction: 1971-73
Original owner: The George Washington University
Description: The groundbreaking ceremony for the new University Library building was held February 15, 1971. The Library was built by the Blake Construction Company and was dedicated October 13, 1973. The Gelman Foundation, Inc. gave the University a $1.5 million naming gift for the library. On May 14, 1980 it was named for Melvin Gelman, alumnus, local contractor and benefactor of the University. The seven-story building has a basement and is constructed of concrete. The façade is largely punctuated by windows, which are divided by projecting vertical slabs. The side elevations (east and west) are windowless.
Melvin Gelman (1918-78) was born in Washington and graduated from Central High School. He received an A.B. degree in government and business administration from The George Washington University in 1940. That same year he joined the Gelman Construction Company founded by his father Elias in 1925. Under Gelman’s leadership, the company built many homes and apartment buildings in the Washington area, managed apartments, and developed and constructed several shopping centers and an office building.
Mr. Gelman’s long association with The George Washington University included service on the council of the School of Government and Business Administration, an advisory group for policy, finance, and community relations, from 1968 to 1974. In 1968, he served on the School of Government and Business Administration Business Advisory Board. In the mid-70s, Mr. Gelman was an early supporter of the university’s Judaic Studies Program. He also served as a director and member of the Executive Committee of National Savings and Trust Company, and was a member of the Washington, D.C. Real Estate Board and the Metropolitan Washington Board of Trade.
Formerly on the square: Chapin Hall, named for Stephen Chapin, University President (1828-1841); Chapin Hall was once called Bradley Hall (after World War II) for General Omar Bradley.
Historic designation: None
Document Information
Images: 2
Photographic Credit: GW University Historical Photographs Collection
Author or Source: Reconnaissance-Level Architectural Survey of Properties in Foggy Bottom, Washington, D.C., 1999; University Archives collections
Document Location: University Archives
Date Added to Encyclopedia: December 11, 2006
Prepared by: Lyle Slovick, Assistant University Archivist; G. David Anderson, University Archivist and Historian
For more information about GW history
Contact:
Special Collections Research Center [1]
The Melvin Gelman Library [2]
The George Washington University [3]
2130 H Street, NW Suite 704
Washington, DC 20052
202-994-7549
mailto:archives@gwu.edu
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