Surgeon General HammondIn Circular No. 2, issued on May 21, 1862, Army Surgeon General William Hammond specifically stated "Medical Directors will furnish one copy of this circular to every medical officer in the department in which they are serving." (Henry p. 12) This circular established the Museum, stating:
As it is proposed to establish in Washington, an Army Medical Museum, Medical officers are directed diligently to collect, and to forward to the office of the Surgeon General, all specimens of morbid anatomy, surgical or medical, which may be regarded as valuable; together with projectiles and foreign bodies removed, and such other matters as may prove of interest in the study of military medicine or surgery.
These objects should be accompanied by short explanatory notes.
Each specimen in the collection will have appended the name of the medical officer by whom it was prepared.
Shortly after the initial circular letter was issued, Hammond recalled John Hill Brinton from duty on the western battlefields. Brinton arrived hoping to receive one of the newly-created medical inspectorships, a job for which he felt well-qualified. Instead, he was assigned to the examining board for surgeons, placed in charge of the Museum, and told to prepare the surgical history of the war. Brinton's colleague, Joseph Javier Woodward, had been assigned to the Surgeon General's Office on May 19, and was responsible for the medical (ie caused by disease) collections and history of the war.
4 comments:
These are the 4 names that the Museum has had since its creation in 1862:
1. Army Medical Museum
2. Medical Museum of the AFIP
3. Armed Forces Medical Museum
4. National Museum of Health and Medicine
But if the BRAC recommendations are fully funded by Congress and implemented by the Army, the Museum will be relocated from Washington, DC to Bethesda, Md. and given a new name:
5. National Medical Museum
So that will make 5 names.
Also, although the Museum has only been placed in 8 different locations, it actually "moved" 9 times, because it was twice moved into the Old Red Brick building.
Finally, it took me quite awhile to research what was the first specimen ever collected by the Museum. For the answer look on the FAQ page of the Museum's Web site.
Regards,
Steven Solomon
NMHM PAO 2000-2007
Correct! Although it was called the Military Medical Museum or the Pathology Museum in correspondence during the Civil War.
True. It was returned to the Old Red Brick on 7th and Independence right before the building was knocked down for the Hirshhorn. Before that it was across Independence in Chase Hall, a nondescript short building.
Hmmm. I thought the first specimen was a gold-leaf covered skull.
http://www.nmhm.washingtondc.museum/about/
faq/index.html#5.2
is Steven's answer. I'll try to look into this during the week. You'll have to string those two lines back together to go to the site, btw.
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