White House on Flickr; can we be far behind?

Keith Axline at Wired says that the White House put up almost 300 photographs on Flickr this week.

"Perhaps we'll be able to post pictures from work again someday...," the photo archivist noted wistfully.

CSI: Borden Institute

Borden Institute book designer Doug wrote to me today:

We weren't able to get a definite date from the network, but either tonight or next Thursday "CSI - Crime Scene Investigations" will be using one of our books in an episode. Looking at the episode summaries it looks like tonight may be the night.

Lawrence Fishburn and another doctor are s upposed to be consultingwith our "Medical Aspects of Biological Warfare" book in an effort to deal with an outbreak caused by a patient receiving a transplant of an infected organ.

You can watch the broadcast tonight on CBS at 9:00 (8 Central and Mountain) or you can go out to the website http://www.cbs.com/primetime/csi/video/ later and watch the episode "The Gone Dead Train."

New Walter Reed hospital photo book by Archives staff

The Museum’s Archives staff supported the publication of these two new books from the Borden Institute that feature the history of Walter Reed Army Medical Center. See the details and links below for more information.

1) Walter Reed Army Medical Center Centennial: A Pictorial History – “A profusely illustrated history covering the full range of WRAMC’s activities in service to the Army and the Nation.” Hardbound. Over half of the photographs are from the Museum’s collections, and Museum archivist Kathleen Stocker was the photographer for some of the views of the buildings of the current campus.

· S/N: 008-000-01020-0

· Price: $35.00

· Link: http://bookstore.gpo.gov/actions/GetPublication.do?stocknumber=008-000-01020-0

2) Borden’s Dream – “An engaging history-memoir covering WRAMC’s early history, filled with stories about the people and events that shaped its evolution as an institution.” Hardbound.

· S/N: 008-023-00135-9

· Price: $55.00

· Link: http://bookstore.gpo.gov/actions/GetPublication.do?stocknumber=008-023-00135-9

We helped find replacement photographs for some of the missing images in the typescript copy of Borden's Dream.

A display is in the hospital lobby and May 1.

Block the flu in style

Core77, the design blog, shows some masks being worn in Mexico. People find a silver lining in any kind of cloud, it seems.

NLM updates its photo website

Here's the PR, but I saw this at AAHM, and tried it out more today, and it works much better than the old one. And they've gotten rid of those ridiculous watermarks. 60000 images is nothing to be sneezed at either, and they've put some surprising clinical pictures up too (search World War 1 Base Hospital for example).

New look, advanced features for NLM's Images from the History of Medicine (IHM)

The History of Medicine Division of the National Library of Medicine announces the launch of a new image platform for its premier database, Images from the History of Medicine (IHM). Using award winning software developed by Luna Imaging, Inc., NLM offers greatly enhanced searching and viewing capabilities to image researchers. Patrons can view search results in a multi-image display, download high resolution copies of their favorite images, zoom in on image details, move images into a patron-defined workspace for further manipulation, and create mediagroups for presenting images and sharing them via e-mail or posting on blogs. With these new capabilities, NLM greatly enhances usability of its image collection, where inspection and comparison of images is often as important as access to bibliographic data. IHM is available online, free of charge, at http://ihm.nlm.nih.gov.

Comprising almost 70,000 images from the Prints and Photographs and other collections held in the History of Medicine Division, IHM is one of the largest image databases in the world dedicated to images of medicine, dentistry, public health, the health professions, and health institutions. The collection includes portraits, photographs, caricatures, genre scenes, posters, and graphic art illustrating the social and historical aspects of medicine. Most types of printmaking are represented: woodcuts, engravings, etchings, mezzotints, aquatints, and lithographs. Also included in the collection are illustrations from the
historical book collection. Newly acquired posters and other materials are continually being added to IHM. The collection is administered by the NLM History of Medicine Division.

Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the National Library of Medicine is the world's largest library of the health sciences. For more information, visit the Web site at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) -- The Nation's Medical Research
Agency -- includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the
U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal
agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational
medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures
for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and
its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov/.

Ginny Cathcart
Curator, Prints and Photographs
History of Medicine Division
National Library of Medicine

For questions, please contact the History of Medicine Division Reference
Desk at hmdref@nlm.nih.gov

Papercutting Wow!

This is a papercut by American artist Hunter Stabler called "Baba Yaga Misquotes the Face to Steeleye Span." Not all of his work is anatomical, but it's all fantastic. What skill and patience.

Swine flu? How about Spanish flu?

Smith Flu 3: Convalescent pneumoconiosis

In these days of our photographs of the WW1 influenza epidemic appearing in papers (uncredited at times, alas), here's a reminder that you can see all of our photographs from two other epidemics on our website - 1918 Influenza Epidemic and 1957 Influenza Epidemic.


58-15573-67 - Child Gargling Broth, Sagamihara Hospital, Japan, August 9, 1957.

Two medical museum references in today's New York Times Science section

The Mutter for "Bone, a Masterpiece of Elastic Strength," By NATALIE ANGIER, in which one can find out Mr. Eastlack had requested that his skeleton be preserved for scientific research, and today it can be seen at the Mutter Museum of the College of Physicians in Philadelphia — or rather, they can be seen. As the developmental biologist Armand Marie Leroi has observed in his book “Mutants,” Mr. Eastlack’s skeleton, with its “extra sheets, struts and pinnacles of bone,” amounts to “that of a 40-year-old man encased in another skeleton, but one that is inchoate and out of control.” I've seen his skeleton and it's very striking. Our museum has a skeleton of Peter Cluckey, a Spanish-American War veteran in which ALL of his joints fused, including his jaw, so he couldn't move or eat.

The Dittrick's Dissections book is featured again in "Snapshots From the Days of Bare-Hands Anatomy," By ABIGAIL ZUGER, M.D. April 28, 2009.

Hairballs, hairballs

This happened this afternoon, but some of it still lingers:

What: National Hairball Awareness Day! NMHM is preparing a temporary exhibition of hairballs for display. Plan now to visit the Museum at 12 p.m. on Monday, April 27 to learn how hairballs form in the stomach, see a selection of human and animal hairballs on display, and get a chance to hold an animal hairball! Hairballs, also known as bezoars, form in the stomach of humans and some animals, and are made of indigestible matter such as hair, food and some medicines.

Want to learn more about hairballs? Check out the Museum's virtual exhibit here http://nmhm.washingtondc.museum/exhibits/virtual/hairball.html.

Dissection photos book review

This book by Jim Edmondson and John Harley Warner was quite a hit when I carried my copy into work today. Here's what another medical historian thought of it - "Gather 'Round the Cadaver: A new book examines photographs of medical students posing with the bodies they dissected," By Barron H. Lerner, Slate Friday, April 24, 2009.

April 29: Walter Reed Centennial History Symposium

Lots of friends and colleagues speaking here - if you decide to attend, remember to bring a photo id. The auditorium is upstairs in the old hospital. I hope to make most of the morning sessions.

Walter Reed Centennial History Symposium
Schedule and Program

April 29, 2009, Wednesday
Vorder Bruegge Auditorium, Bldg #1, Old Main Hospital


0800 Welcome and Introduction
Sherman Fleek, WRAMC Historian

0810 Opening Remarks
COL Coots, Commander, WRHCS

0820 Program Overview and Schedule
Dr. Dale Smith, Senior VP, USUHS
Program Chair and Commentator

0830 Keynote Presentations:

Walter Reed the Man and his Family
Dr. John Pierce, MD, COL USA (Ret)

Yellow Fever: The Scourge Revealed
CAPT Stanton E. Cope, MSC, USN, PhD

1000 Break

1020 Second Session

Walter Reed General Hospital and the Rise of the American Military Medical Complex
Jessica L. Adler, PhD Candidate

The Army School of Nursing at Walter Reed
Scott R. Schoner, Museum Curator

1130 Third Session

Walter Reed Hospital, Rehabilitation Medicine, and Reconstruction Aides in World War I America
Jeffrey S. Reznick, PhD

Physical Rehabilitation at Walter Reed: The First Decade, 1917-27
Sanders Marble, PhD

1230 Lunch

1330 Fourth Session

“The Patient is First, and Always”:COL Ogden C. Bruton and the Legacy of Pediatric Care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center
COL Thomas R. Burklow, MD

A Remembrance of Dr. Ogden Bruton
Marcia Boyle, Foundation President

1430 Centennial Film Preview

1530 Closing Remarks
Dr. Dale Smith

Tour of Building #1 and Campus (Optional, 1 hour tour) Sherman Fleek




Presenter Biographies:

Jessica L. Adler PhD Candidate, History: Columbia University, New York City

Marcia Boyle Founder and President of the Immune Deficiency Foundation, established in 1980. The Foundation is the national non-profit patient organization dedicated to improving the diagnosis, treatment and quality of life of persons with primary immunodeficiency diseases through advocacy, education and research.

Thomas R. Burklow COL, MC, Chief of Pediatrics at Walter Reed Army Medical Center

Stanton E. Cope PhD CAPTAIN, Medical Service Corps, United States Navy, served as entomologist for 20 years; winner of Campbell Collection Award for YF material at UCLA; delivered numerous publications on yellow fever experiments in Cuba. Director, Armed Forces Pest Management Board, Silver Spring, MD

Sanders Marble PhD, AB, William & Mary; MA and PhD, King’s College University of London; five years as historian with Office of Medical History, Office of The Surgeon General, U.S. Army

John R. Pierce Retired U.S. Army Colonel and physician, former chief of pediatrics at Walter Reed Army Medical Center; Department of Veterans Affairs; he the co-author of Yellow Jack: How Yellow Fever Ravaged America and Walter Reed Discovered its Deadly Secrets, 2005.

Jeffrey S. Reznick PhD is an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Modern History of the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, a member of its Centre for First World War Studies, and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He is author of two books in the Culture History of Modern War series of Manchester University Press – Healing the nation: Soldiers and the culture of care-giving in Britain during the Great War (2004) and John Galsworthy and Disabled Soldiers of the Great War (forthcoming, 2009) – as well as numerous articles which explore the medical, material, and memorial cultures of 1914-1918. Reznick lives in Rockville, Maryland, and he serves as Director of the Institute for the Study of Occupation and Health of the American Occupational Therapy Foundation, Bethesda, Maryland.

Scott R. Schoner Curator of the U.S. Army Medical Department Museum, Ft. Sam Houston, Texas.

Women of the World, Raise Your Hands (or maybe just your guns!)

I found this image while going through the NCP, (New Contributed Photograph,) file; signed by F. Schultz, this illustration struck me as being especially intriguing. Not only is it a depiction of a handgun firing in slow motion, but if you look closely, you will see that the marksman, (more like markswoman,) is wearing pink fingernail polish! Although the image is educational in and of itself, you have to give the artist kudos for feminizing this illustration. As an avid shooter myself, hats off to you, F. Schultz!

Percy Skye contraception collection

At the Dittrick Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, a massive collection of contraceptive devices is slowly being turned into a new exhibit. Percy Skye collected these devices over a forty-year period and donated them recently. I got to see the planned exhibit and some of the artifacts today, and they're really interesting.

Medical Museums Association

Here in Cleveland, a grand scheme of making history of medicine more relevant to the general public is being explicated by Joanna of Morbid Anatomy. We're live-blogging to discuss how to get information out to a wider audience.

New book of dissection photographs by Jim Edmondson

Dittrick Museum curator Jim Edmondson has a new book, Dissection, showing historical photographs of medical classes and their anatomical lessons. It's a very cool book. The publisher Laura Lindgren of Blast Books says it'll be featured on Slate tomorrow, NPR over the weekend and in the Sunday New York Times Book Review.

Curley and Rhode at AAHM

Jim and I will be at the American Association for the History of Medicine meetings in Cleveland at the end of this week, as well as the accompanying Medical Museum Associations one. Feel free to come up and say hello. While our names both end in "eeee", he's the slightly taller one, but I've got longer hair.

DAVID MACAULAY’S "THE WAY WE WORK" ART EXHIBITION OPENS

DAVID MACAULAY’S "THE WAY WE WORK" ART EXHIBITION OPENS AT NATIONAL MUSEUM OF HEALTH AND MEDICINE IN WASHINGTON, D.C.

April 13, 2009, Washington, D.C. – The National Museum of Health and Medicine/AFIP will host a six-month installation of "David Macaulay Presents: The Way We Work: Getting to Know the Amazing Human Body," a new exhibition based on of the acclaimed author’s most recent book of the same title. The exhibition was organized by the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature of Abilene, Texas and opens on April 20, 2009. Admission is free. NMHM is open to the public and is located on the campus at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

"The real beauty of the human body, as it turns out, had little to do with outward appearance. It is displayed in and beneath the skin in a remarkable demonstration of economy and efficiency," said Macaulay in a NCCIL publication about the book. On why he began "The Way We Work": "What began as a simple desire to better understand my own inner workings has become an opportunity to display both my wonder and gratitude."

Over the course of six years, Macaulay delved into the inner workings of the human body, approaching the material with the same vigor to which he previous applied to examinations of architecture and machines. The exhibit takes the visitor on an immersive journey through the human body system-by-system, from the most basic details about cell structure to vivid descriptions of bodily functions. The original artwork will be displayed alongside one-of-a-kind anatomical specimens drawn from the Museum’s collections, so that visitors will be given the opportunity to see in three dimensions that which Macaulay so vividly conveys through his whimsical take on the human body.

"Where else but the nation’s medical museum to display these wonderful works of art?" said Adrianne Noe, Ph.D., Museum director. "Macaulay’s keen eye for detail is evident throughout the exhibition. We hope that the pairing of Macaulay’s sketches with anatomical specimens from our collection will engage the visitor to consider the wonder of the human body."

A series of public programs will be launched to coincide with the temporary exhibition, including a special hands-on program that will be offered on Wednesday mornings (starting in June). Interested parties are encouraged to monitor the Museum’s Events page on their Web site at http://nmhm.washingtondc.museum/events/event_2ed.html, or sign up for the Museum’s free e-newsletter.

The exhibit will close on September 20, 2009.

"The Way We Work: Getting to Know the Amazing Human Body" by David Macaulay (the book) was published in 2008 by Houghton Mifflin, Inc. of New York.

Reservations are not required to visit the Museum. Admission is free and parking is available. Adults seeking to visit the Museum are required to present valid government-issued photo identification to gain entry to Walter Reed, and will be asked to present ID again at the Museum.

For more information, contact Tim Clarke, Jr., the Museum’s Deputy Director for Communications, phone (202) 782-2672, email timothy.clarke@afip.osd.mil.

Did you know we have a newsletter?

Here's the info from our website which also has links to previous editions from 2001-2009:

Flesh and Bones

Flesh and Bones [ISSN 1535-0878] is a publication of the National Museum of Health and Medicine of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. It contains information about upcoming events and public programs, and general news about the museum. There is no charge for Flesh and Bones, but donations are gratefully accepted and may be made by sending a check drawn on U.S. funds made payable to "National Museum of Health and Medicine - Registry." To receive a copy of Flesh and Bones, send an email with your name and mailing address to nmhminfo@afip.osd.mil. Please allow 4-6 weeks for processing.

National Take Your Child To Work Day--April 23

On NTYCTWD the Museum will be on the go--we've been invited to participate in the NIH at Fishers Lane program of activities for kids age 7-15. Archie Fobbs will engage the kids in fun ways to learn about brain anatomy; Gwen Nelmes will talk about the museum profession by describing activities and collections of the museum, including a hands-on experience with plastinated organs and a Civil War amputation demonstration (any volunteers??); and Andrea Schierkolk will lead a forensics mystery workshop where participants will learn how much information can be gleaned from examining bones of an unidentified individual.

The National Museum of Health and Medicine collaborates with NIH on numerous scientific and public outreach projects, including Brain Awareness Week, the Human Cardiac Development Atlas, The Visible Embryo, and the Virtual Embryo Atlas of Histology.

McClelland's WW1 nursing experience

OPENING OF ARMY NURSING EXHIBIT [AT THE MEDICAL MUSEUM], FEBRUARY 1972. COLIN THOMBSON, DESIGNER AND MS HELEN MCCLELLAND, WW1 REGISTERED NURSE.

For Rea P, a quick transcription from p. 4-5, discussing being assigned to a hospital in Belgium, to a British nursing team with one other American nurse:

There were seven surgical teams; five British and two American, besides the regular staff of officers and sisters. Four teams were put on day duty; three on at night until a "push" began - then the schedule was changed and the teams would work for twelve hours - go off for eight - then on again for twelve. In this way, all the teams would be working for part of the twenty-four hours.

There were five operating tables in a Nissen hut and two in a large tent (marquee). The two American teams were on duty at the same time and our tables were next to each other in the hut.

When the first big drive came - which was the heaviest that we had known, all the teams worked overtime - no one felt like going off when the men were pouring in. One day, we worked for twenty-two hours - only stopping for something to eat. After cleaning up our tables, we went to bed at 2:00 A.M., but were back on duty at 4:00 A..M, and worked for another twelve hours. At the end of that period, when the men were not coming in so fast, we were relieved for eight hours.

Knitting at the NMHM--May 16, 2009

Calling all knitters and crocheters! On Saturday, May 16, from 2-5 p.m., the NMHM will host its 3rd helmetliner knit-in. These helmetliners will be sent to servicemembers in Iraq and Afghanistan to offer warmth during cold nights.

During the last helmetliner knit-in, we had a very special guest, Major General Douglas Stone of the Marine Corps Reserves. (MajGen Stone is a knitter himself.) He shared stories about the value of the helmetliners--he said that a lot of the service members are stuffing their helmets with materials to provide extra warmth. This causes the helmets to sit too high on their heads, making them more vulnerable to gunshot wounds to the head. The helmet liners, made of 100% wool, offer warmth without compromising the protective design of the helmets.

If you are an experienced knitter and wish to get an early start on the project, you may download the knitting pattern at http://www.usmcmuseum.com/knitpattern.pdf. If you would like a crochet pattern, click here to download a PDF.

A Conversation on Nursing at Walter Reed

The NMHM will host the second program in our series of lectures to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Here are the details:

When: Wednesday, May 6, 2009, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.

Where: Russell Auditorium, National Museum of Health and Medicine, Building 54

What: Kick off National Nurses Week with “A Conversation on Nursing at Walter Reed.” An informal discussion, featuring the history of nursing at Walter Reed, perspectives on current practices, and thoughts on the future of the Army Nurse Corps, will commemorate 100 years of nursing at Walter Reed.

Presenters: Debbie Cox, former Army Nurse Corps Historian; CPT Jennifer Easley, Medical/Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, WRAMC; LTC Patrick Ahearne, Staff Officer, Office of the Army Nurse Corps, Office of the Army Surgeon General

Cost: Free

World Digital Library begins

PR from the Library of Congress:

NEWS FROM THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
101 Independence Ave. S.E.
Washington, DC 20540

April 21, 2009

UNESCO, U.S. Library of Congress and Partners Launch World Digital Library

Paris, Washington D.C.—UNESCO and 32 partner institutions today launched the World Digital Library, a website that features unique cultural materials from libraries and archives from around the world. The site―located at www.wdl.org ―includes manuscripts, maps, rare books, films, sound recordings, prints and photographs. It provides unrestricted public access, free of charge, to this material.

The launch took place at UNESCO Headquarters at an event co-hosted by UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura and Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. Directors of the partner institutions were on hand to present the project to ambassadors, ministers, delegates and special guests attending the semi-annual meeting of UNESCO’s Executive Board.

Billington first proposed the creation of a World Digital Library (WDL) to UNESCO in 2005, remarking that such a project could “have the salutary effect of bringing people together by celebrating the depth and uniqueness of different cultures in a single global undertaking.” Matsuura welcomed the proposal as a “great initiative that will help to bridge the knowledge divide, promote mutual understanding and foster cultural and linguistic diversity.” In addition to promoting international understanding, the project aims to expand the volume and variety of cultural content on the Internet, provide resources for educators, scholars, and general audiences and narrow the digital divide within and between countries by building capacity in partner countries.

The World Digital Library functions in seven languages―Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish―and includes content in more than 40 languages. Browse and search features facilitate cross-cultural and cross-temporal exploration on the site. Descriptions of each item and videos, with expert curators speaking about selected items, provide context for users and are intended to spark curiosity and encourage both students and the general public to learn more about the cultural heritage of all countries.

The World Digital Library was developed by a team at the Library of Congress. Technical assistance was provided by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina of Alexandria, Egypt. Institutions contributing to the WDL include national libraries and cultural and educational institutions in Brazil, Egypt, China, France, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Mali, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, Qatar, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, Sweden, Uganda, the United Kingdom and the United States.

“UNESCO welcomes the creation of the World Digital Library which reflects the values and priorities of our organization,” Matsuura declared. “WDL offers an invaluable platform for the free flow of information, for international solidarity, for the celebration of cultural diversity and for the building of inclusive knowledge societies. With projects like the Digital Library, the cultural and societal potential of digital technologies come into their own.”

“We are honored to be working with so many great libraries in this venture,” said Billington, “and thankful for the strong support that UNESCO has given to this project. What we launched today is a first step. We look forward to seeing this project realize its ambition to bring people together, deepen our understanding of each other, and help electronically oriented young people enjoy what is best in traditional culture, using the new media.”

Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, UNESCO Special Envoy for Basic and Higher Education and Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, congratulated UNESCO and the partner institutions on the launch of the WDL, and stated that “Qatar is very proud to be a founding member of this remarkable international collaboration.” Her Highness noted that “universal education is the key to international understanding,” and “this endeavour will do much to develop the appreciation of other cultures and nations.”

The National Library of China (NLC) contributed manuscripts, maps, books, and rubbings of steles and oracle bones that span the range of Chinese history from ancient to modern times. “The World Digital Library project offers a brand-new platform for showcasing the diversity of the world's civilizations,” said Dr. Furui Zhan, Chief Librarian of the NLC. “This endeavour enables cultural exchange while bringing together different countries and peoples in mutual understanding and enrichment. The spirit of equality and open understanding comes into full view with the creation of this World Digital Library. The National Library of China is ready to work in close cooperation with the World Digital Library, continuing to promote in concert the prosperity and progress of all human civilizations.”

Examples of other treasures featured include Arabic scientific manuscripts from the National Library and Archives of Egypt; early photographs of Latin America from the National Library of Brazil; the “Hyakumanto darani,” a publication from A.D. 764 from the National Diet Library of Japan; the famous 13th century “Devil’s Bible” from the National Library of Sweden; and works of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish calligraphy from the collections of the Library of Congress.

Ahead of the launch, Matsuura invited UNESCO member states to encourage their cultural institutions to participate in the development of the project. He noted that their participation would contribute to a truly universal digital library that showcases the cultural heritage and achievements of all countries. Matsuura also highlighted the synergies between this initiative and UNESCO’s Memory of the World Program, noting that the WDL should help provide public access to digital versions of collections on the Memory of the World register.

One of UNESCO’s main mandates is to promote the free flow of all forms of knowledge in education, science, culture and communication. The organization therefore promotes education, research and exchanges through the improved and increased availability of content on the Internet. To this end, it collaborates with a number of partners on the creation of digital and other repositories.

Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. It seeks to spark imagination and creativity and to further human understanding and wisdom by providing access to knowledge through its magnificent collections, programs and exhibitions. Many of the Library’s rich international resources will be available through the World Digital Library at www.wdl.org, while other resources can be found at the Library’s main website, www.loc.gov and via interactive exhibitions on a new, personalized website at myLOC.gov.


# # #

PR 09-82
4/21/09
ISSN 0731-3527

National Hairball Awareness Day!!!

My favorite day of the year is coming around again! Monday, April 27 is National Hairball Awareness Day! The NMHM has 27 veterinary and 3 human bezoars in the collection. From April 27-May 3 the Museum will have several of them on display, in addition to the human trichobezoar that is out all the time. We have 3 human hairballs--from 12-year-old girls who spent at least 6 years pulling and eating their hair. My favorite is a hairball removed from the gullet of a chicken. Usually humans and ruminant animals develop hairballs. The one from the chicken is kinda special. The chicken used to hang out with a pet dog and would pick at its fur. The owner of the chicken realized it was having a "problem," so he cut out what turned out to be a hairball and gave it to us. Come on April 27 and you'll learn why bezoars develop--you'll see bezoars from a steer, a cow, a horse, a human, and a chicken!! And, we'll even let you hold one!

Visit http://www.nmhm.washingtondc.museum/exhibits/virtual/hairball.html to see our virtual exhibit about bezoars. Enjoy!

(Did you know that there have been medical reports of bezoars consisting of gummy bears, polystyrene, foam pulled from the backseat of a car.....)

WW1 speech by nurse

The blog slipped open so here's a quick post. Historical collections had a request for info on Helen McClelland, a World War I nurse. They're not finding anything, but the archives has 2 pictures of her at an opening of a 1972 exhibit on nursing and a folder of clippings. The folder of clippings at first glance was just photocopies of articles about her, but it turns out there's also a talk in there that she gave about her WW1 service. Pretty neat!

News of other medical museums

Here's one about the Southern California Medical Museum's 12th Annual Open House - "Riverside museum hosts CSI symposium," Michael J. Sorba, Staff Writer, 04/19/2009.

The Rochester Medical Museum and Archives is featured in "History on Display: Local medical archives in fantastic health," April 20, 2009.

The "New" Tom

As the newest member of the Museum, I am attempting to learn the ins and outs of this wonderful institution. After a week of "hazing" from the higher ups, (a.k.a. running around Walter Reed pleading for signatures and looking for offices,) I am now finally learning my duties as the Archives Technician. Thus far, my favorite thing has been admiring all of the old stuff. I realize that this seems a bit obvious, as I work in a museum, but I truly am constantly amazed by the images, documents and artifacts that I see around me. Sitting with Kathleen last week, I found myself in awe of the fact that the document in my hands had been written by someone in the late 19th century. Apologizing for feeling so giddy, Kathleen assured me that she still has similar thoughts when viewing older materials. I realize that this child-like sense of amazement is likely to fade the longer I work with the collection, but for now, my awe-inspired excitement is the driving force behind me getting in to work at 6:30am to ensure a parking space:) I feel compelled to give a shout out to all the staff members here at the Museum. I have greatly enjoyed meeting everyone and they have all been so kind and helpful. A special thanks to Brian and Jim for the "backstage" tours of the historical and anatomical collections last week; I am happy to admit that not a single nightmare came out of Brian's tour!

Feast or famine on these posts

We hit a dry spell over the weekend on posting to this blog, and if you were anywhere near the DC area you would know why - we hit that sweet, sweet spot of weather with blue skies and temps in the high 60s and had, sorry to say, better things to occupy us. Wait! Not yesterday, but Friday and Saturday - oh, yeah.

However, our faithful over at Flickr put us over 775,000 views last night, so maybe their weather wasn't nearly as nice as ours.

Many thanks to all of you who keep those numbers going.

I think I missed the ice cream

Received this email today, and I think I should have read it a little more closely:

We will be acknowledging the National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week (NMLPW) here at the Armed Force Institute of Pathology. NMLPW will be April 19-25, 2009.

What is NMLPW? NMLPW is an annual celebration of the medical laboratory professionals and pathologists who play a vital role in every aspect of health care. NMLPW is a chance for medical laboratory personnel to celebrate their professionalism and be recognized for their efforts. Often, they use this time to inform and educate medical colleagues and the public about the medical laboratory. Since laboratorians often work behind the scenes, few people know much about the critical testing they perform every day.

The theme will be "Laboratory Professionals Get Results." Due to OPTEMPO we will take the special time to formally thank everyone for their contribution with getting results at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. Our special thank you will commence on Monday at 1100-1300HRS with an ice-cream and cake social held in the foyers of our Main and Rockville facilities.

See? I think the ice cream was today, and I missed it.

Days of Remembrance

This Tuesday and Thursday in the museum's auditorium. Free popcorn, folks - the good stuff.

Macauley exhibit opens on Monday

Our exhibit of the original art from David Macauley's latest book on the human body opens on Monday. It was looking good on Friday as about 1/2 the art was hung.

Have we mentioned our new archives staff member?

I think not. Jasmine High has joined us in the archives, fairly freshly out of GWU's museum studies program. She'll be managing the MIS Library photo collection of 2000 boxes or so, and doing quality control on the scanning project for them. We'll try to get her to stop in and post here. So far this week she's been running the paper and electronic sign-in marathon, but we put her to work today on processing a small collection of awards and certificates from former AFIP director James Hansen.

Army.mil

I was cruising through Flickr and came across an account called Army.mil, with just short of 4000 images. Surely they're not posting from home, not 4000 images! So I emailed them and asked. No, they have privileges because they're the "Web team" and have access to sites others might not have. I want to be a Web team. How do I go about that?

Botox moves beyond cosmetic uses

Good article in the Times today - it's in the business section, but could easily have been in Tuesday's science section -

So Botox Isn’t Just Skin Deep
By NATASHA SINGER
Published: April 12, 2009
Botox has become a wrinkle-removal gold mine for the drug maker Allergan, but some doctors are also now using it to treat ailments like migraines and oily skin.

We got yer tractors!

Amphibious and farming and train and fogging - over at Flickr.

The theme of the day is Latrines

You will not believe how hard it is to look for pictures to upload to Flickr. Today I was looking for something else when a picture of a latrine caught my eye and I had an "aha!" moment. Peruse at your leisure.

"Face cases"

I just posted some facial wound/reconstruction pictures on Flickr, a small part of a pretty extensive series. For me, this ties in very nicely with the Otken Collection that I've been working on for a while. Captain Otken, as I've written before, was a World War 1 American Expeditionary Forces surgeon in France. He wrote often to his family about his "face cases," in particular one boy who was pretty shot up but through a series of surgeries Captain Otken kept him from being too disfigured. I'm sure that he saw the kinds of wounds that I just put up.

Not for the squeamish

Today we bring you a couple of autopsy photos, so if you're a wee squeamish, skip this one. For the braver among you, this finally settles the question of where Easter eggs come from. From CraftyHedgehog at etsy. And sure, if you squint your eyes, it's somewhat medical-related.

Library of Congress to launch World Digital Library

This sounds like a worthy endeavor, doesn't it? As regular readers know, we've been digitizing a lot of photographs and a few books (available at the Internet Archive). Somehave had concernes that Google Books is too big - see "Google & the Future of Books," By Robert Darnton, New York Review of Books Volume 56, Number 2, February 12, 2009 and the Library's project seems like a good alternative. Here's the PR:

Library of Congress, UNESCO and Partners To Launch World Digital Library

The Library of Congress, UNESCO and 32 partner institutions on April 21 will launch the World Digital Library, a website that features unique cultural materials from libraries and archives from around the world.

The site will include manuscripts, maps, rare books, films, sound recordings, and prints and photographs – available unrestricted to the public and free of charge. The browseable, searchable site will function in seven languages and offer content in dozens of languages.

The launch will take place at a reception at UNESCO’s Paris headquarters co-hosted by UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura and the Librarian of Congress, James H. Billington. Directors of numerous partner institutions will also be on hand to present the project to ambassadors, ministers, delegates, and special guests attending the semi-annual meeting of UNESCO’s executive board.

Dr. Billington first proposed the creation of a World Digital Library (WDL) to UNESCO in 2005, remarking that such a project could “have the salutary effect of bringing people together by celebrating the depth and uniqueness of different cultures in a single global undertaking.” In addition to promoting international understanding, the project aims to expand the volume and variety of cultural content on the Internet, provide resources for educators, scholars, and general audiences, and narrow the digital divide within and between countries by building capacity in partner countries.

Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. It seeks to spark imagination and creativity and to further human understanding and wisdom by providing access to knowledge through its magnificent collections, programs and exhibitions. Many of the Library’s rich international resources will be available through the World Digital Library. Other resources can be found at the Library’s main website, loc.gov, and via interactive exhibitions on a new, personalized website at myLOC.gov.

###
PR 09-70
4/7/09
ISSN 0731-3527

Aussie military dogs are awarded medals

Our friend Mike Lemish sent me a link to an article about a medals ceremony in Australia last month that honored six working dogs, two of them posthumously. There's a nice video that goes with it.

Backtracking in the history of medicine for old techniques to reuse

Here's the article that Alexis originally contacted me for - "Old, Brutal Surgeries Inspire Elegant Modern Devices," By Alexis Madrigal, March 31, 2009. I didn't have any good suggestions for him, but he talked to Dave Lounsbury and Dale Smith whom I suggested. This is a neat idea, but I can't imagine you can take it too far since antibiotics, x-rays and asepsis make the biggest differences in treatment.

What would it take to make a Civil War veteran happy?

Money. But also an accordion "to drive away the dark clouds from my sickroom." I had a vague memory of this letter from twenty years ago, and as she was processing our accession records for scanning, Archivist Amanda Montgomery found it for me.

Here's a post-Civil War letter from veteran Alexander Rider to Dr. Reed Bontecou talking about the difficulties of having a photograph made when he can't leave the house, and asking for an accordion. From the Museum's accession records for SS 2030. Click on the photo to see it larger for reading. Rider was a Private, Company I, 76 Pennsylvania Volunteers, wounded at Pocotaligo, SC on October 22, 1862.

Arm and leg prosthetics in the making

A dozen photos of arm and leg prosthetics being created have just been posted to our Flickr account. These are some of those behind-the-scenes images I really like. We probably have all seen finished products, but don't usually see how they're made.

More from our MAMAS collection

The Museum and Medical Arts Service or Services or Section, we're still not quite sure, was the first collection processed when we started the digitization program in 2005. The first batch, and what we thought was the entire collection in our possession, was 13 or 14 shoebox-size boxes and an oversize box. We had been in touch with one of the MAMAS photographers while that project was going on and I was disappointed that we had just a couple of photographs attributed to him. Last year, as we were going through boxes of "unknown" photos, finally sorting through them and checking to see if they'd been scanned already, we found another treasure trove of MAMAS photos, about 1300-1500 of them, and more of them held this photographer's name. We were delighted!

Over the last couple of years, though, we had lost track of the photographer, Melvin Shaffer, but this week he turned up again. He will be giving us more information on MAMAS photos as I shuttle the digital versions off to him. Already he's added some information to some charts I just posted to Flickr showing the comparison between shell shocked casualties and wounded or KIA's. All the military units were in the North Africa/ Italian/ Southern France area. He also gave us the first name of Private First Class Anderson, the illustrator or chart man: he's Pfc Dickie Anderson.

Several years ago Melvin donated his photos to Southern Methodist University and they have built an enviable website to showcase his work. Melvin captioned the photos himself and it is very much worth your time to take a look.

Cartoon postcard in new Medical Museum collection

Postcard sent by Luther B. Otken, a World War 1 surgeon in the American Expeditionary Forces, stationed in France. This collection of WW1 correspondence was donated to the National Museum of Health & Medicine last month.

Stanley Burns' new photo book

Friend of the medical museum Dr. Stanley Burns has an awesome collection of historical medical photographs, but he also collects many other types of photos. Here's a NY Times review of his and his wife's new book on historical news photos NEWS ART: Manipulated Photographs From the Burns Archive (Power­House, $45)

Flanders' Focus Knack notices Flickr

A friend of mine just noted our Flickr site is in "Focus Knack, Flanders' most prominent media magazine." which may bring another group of hits from an audience we wouldn't normally have.

On the scanning side, we just accepted about 5500 scans of 35mm slides of Walter Reed medical center from our scanning contractor and picked up another 8 boxes of prints of the base to scan.

And it looks like Kathleen's tossed up a bunch of World War 1 facial reconstruction and plastic surgery images on her day off.

Walgreens and Quest partner up

Amid the bad news we hear about corporate America daily was some good - no, excellent news from the Walgreens drugstore chain and Quest Diagnostics. They are partnering to provide free basic health care through the end of the year to laid-off workers who have also lost their health insurance. Family members will also receive care if they don't have coverage elsewhere.

"Walgreens said patients who lose their job and health insurance after March 31 will be able to get free treatment at its in-store Take Care clinics for respiratory problems, allergies, infections and skin conditions, among other ailments. Typically those treatments cost $59 or more for patients with no insurance." Quest will offer free tests for strep throat and urinary tract infections.

Pretty excellent news and real community responsibility.