Howard Tilton was not one person but two people: Charles T. Howard and Frederick W. Tilton.
Charles Turner Howard was the first president of the Louisiana Lottery in 1869. The Dictionary of Louisiana Biography provides more information:
Spurned by some of social elite, Howard sought social prestige and recognition. Said to have purchased the Metairie Race Track because its jockey club denied him membership and, 1872, converted the grounds into the Metairie Cemetery. After his death in 1885 resulting from a fall off a horse, Howard's family established, 1889, in his honor the Howard Memorial Library (later absorbed into the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library of Tulane University) and the Confederate Museum.
Frederick William Tilton was a railroad iron magnate. The Dictionary of Louisiana Biography provides more information:
A parton of the arts, made liberal donations to cultural organizations. Before death, expressed desire to do something for Tulane University. Died, June 6, 1890; interred Metairie Cemetery. After death wife donated funds for construction of F. W. Tilton Library. Cornerstone of library laid June 8, 1901, Tulane campus; opened 1903.
Howard Memorial Library was originally located at Harmony Circle in a building based on a design by H. H. Richardson. The library opened on March 4, 1889 through the efforts of Charles Howard's daughter, Annie Howard (whose painting is part of the university's art collection). The building is now part of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art.
F. W. Tilton Library, built in 1902, was originally located next to Gibson Hall on St. Charles Avenue. The building is now called Tilton Memorial Hall and houses the Amistad Research Center, the Economics department, and the Murphy Institute.
In 1938, Tulane and the Howard Library announced a merger of Tulane's Tilton Library, Newcomb's library in Dixon Hall, and the Howard Library. The new library was named Howard-Tilton Memorial Library.
In 1968, the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library moved to its current location. The former library building became Jones Hall and home to the Law School until 1995 when Weinmann Hall was finished and Special Collections moved out of Howard-Tilton and over to Jones Hall.
