A Repository for Bottled Monsters: NLM History of Medicine Lecture on Medical Museum and SG Library

Monday, August 26, 2013

NLM History of Medicine Lecture on Medical Museum and SG Library

Dear Colleagues,

You are cordially invited to the next NLM History of Medicine lecture,
to be held on Tuesday, September 3, 2013 from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., in
the Lister Hill Auditorium, National Library of Medicine, Building
38A, Bethesda, MD.

"The Civil War, the Army Medical Museum, and the Surgeon General's
Library: Medical Practice and the Science of American Medicine"

Shauna Devine, PhD; Western University, London, Ontario

All are welcome.

Sign language interpretation is provided. Individuals with
disabilities who need reasonable accommodation to participate may
contact Stephen Greenberg at 301-435-4995, e-mail
greenbes@mail.nih.gov, or the Federal Relay (1-800-877-8339).

Due to current security measures at NIH, off-campus visitors are
advised to consult the NLM Visitors and Security website:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/about/visitor.html

Sponsored by:
NLM's History of Medicine Division
Jeffrey S. Reznick, PhD, Chief

Event contact:
Stephen J. Greenberg, MSLS, PhD
Coordinator of Public Services
History of Medicine Division
National Library of Medicine, NIH
301-435-4995
greenbes@mail.nih.gov

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Who are we?

Mike Rhode was the chief archivist of the Museum from 1989-2011, and is the founder of this blog. I maintain an interest in the course of the museum, and will be posting relevant information.

The Army Medical Museum was founded in 1862 during the American Civil War. After World War II, a parent-child relationship was inverted and the Museum became part of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. Since then, the Museum has moved around Washington, stopping for years in Ford's Theatre, and on the National Mall where the building it shared with the National Library of Medicine once stood, until it was demolished in 1968 for the Hirshhorn Museum. For 35 years it was at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and now is in Silver Spring, MD.

So what about that blog name?

It's historical. I found it in a quote from one of the former curators. World War II confirmed the Army Medical Museum's primary role in pathology consultation. James Ash, the curator during the war and a pathologist, noted, "Shortly after the last war, more concerted efforts were instituted to concentrate in the Army Medical Museum the significant pathologic material occurring in Army installations." He closed with the complaint, "We still suffer under the connotation museum, an institution still thought of by many as a repository for bottled monsters and medical curiosities. To be sure, we have such specimens. As is required by law, we maintain an exhibit open to the public, but in war time, at least, the museum per se is the least of our functions, and we like to be thought of as the Army Institute of Pathology, a designation recently authorized by the Surgeon General."

After the war, it evolved into the tri-service Armed Forces Institute of Pathology.

A Repository for Bottled Monsters

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Monday, August 26, 2013

NLM History of Medicine Lecture on Medical Museum and SG Library

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