Our History

The origin of the Rudolph Matas Library dates from the founding of the Medical College of Louisiana (now Tulane University School of Medicine) in 1834. In 1895, Rudolph Matas began his ongoing efforts to support the library, devoting much of his energy and fortune to the expansion of its collections and services. The library was named in his honor in 1937. Today, the library is the primary resource library of the Tulane School of Medicine, the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and the Tulane National Primate Research Center (TRNPC).

The bronze doors on permanent display in the library are the original doors from the old, main entrance to the medical school's Hutchinson Memorial Building on Tulane Avenue. The pair are extremely ornate, weighing more 300 pounds each. They were designed by Douglass Freret of Favrot and Livaudais Architects and erected in 1930. When the entrance was closed in 1960, the doors were dismounted and were remounted in the library in 1981.