The museum was established in 1898 by the Cleveland Medical Library Association[1] and today functions as an interdisciplinary study center.

Since the foundation and initial intent of the founders the Dittrick Museum has become more analytical of medical technology of the past and seeks to study the doctor-patient relationships throughout time.

[2] A prominent figure in making the Dittrick Museum was a man by the name of Dudley Peter Allen who was a surgeon in the late 19th century.

After his death his wife Elizabeth Severance Allen continued to donate funds in order to build a library in her husband's memory named the Allen Memorial Medical Library as well as a museum.

The museum's galleries include but are not limited to: Diagnostic Instruments, Doctor's Office 1870s, Doctor's Office 1930s, Early Medical Practice and Education, Hospital Medicine, 1865-1920, Laboratory Medicine 1865-1920, Microscopes, Millikin Room, Pharmacy 1880s, Stecher Room, Science, Technology, Medicine 1895-1950, Surgery, Obstetrics Instruments, Castele Gallery, Virtue, Vice, and Contraband: A history of Contraception in America and the HF Aitken collection of biomedical art,