The Laughlin Library was named for James Laughlin, the first president and founding member of the Pennsylvania Female College (now Chatham University) Board of Trustees. Laughlin was an Irish immigrant and co-owner of the James and Laughlin Steel Company, and in addition to serving on the Chatham Board of Trustees was also a trustee of the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf. The library itself, completed and dedicated in 1931, was the last building to be built before both the Great Depression and World War II halted construction on campus, and was part of a planned expansion of campus that included two additional buildings. It was made possible by a gift of $100,000 from Laughlin's granddaughter, Anne Irwin Laughlin. The building served as the Library until the early 1970s, when a more than $3 million gift enabled the Jennie King Mellon Library to be built off of Murray Hill Ave. Today, the building is called the Laughlin Music Hall, and houses the Welker Room, Founders' Room, music faculty offices, and the College for Continuing and Professional Studies.
For selected other images detailing the Laughlin Library's history, click here.
For more information about James Laughlin, see Laberta Dysart's Chatham College: The First Ninety Years here.