Pages

Monday, May 5, 2014

New medical museum in Louisiana



Willis-Knighton unveils WK Innovation Center
The expansion also includes the Talbot Museum, a medical museum that displays the history of the Willis-Knighton system created in 2004. Created ...
 




Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Indiana Historical Medical Museum theft




WRTV Indianapolis
Police discover more items in stolen brains investigation
... brains and other artifacts from the Indiana Historical Medical Museum after police recovered several boxes of allegedly stolen surgical instruments.


May 7: Lecture on wounded Civil War soldiers at Smithsonian

Erin Corrales-Diaz, Joe and Wanda Corn Predoctoral Fellow, University of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill
"Visualizing 'The Real War': Disabled Civil War Veterans and the U.S. Army Surgeon General's Office" 
4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Smithsonian American Art Museum's McEvoy Auditorium, located at 8th and G Streets NW, Washington, D.C.

Friday, April 25, 2014

NMHM mentioned in article on the Corcoran Gallery

The Great Divide
By Kriston Capps • Photographs by Darrow Montgomery 
Washington City Paper April 25, 2014

See the paragraph Where is the art going?


Wednesday, April 23, 2014

NMHM's embryology collection in Bull. of History of Medicine

Ex Utero: Live Human Fetal Research and the Films of Davenport Hooker

From: Bulletin of the History of Medicine 
Volume 88, Number 1, Spring 2014 
pp. 132-160 | 10.1353/bhm.2014.0002

Abstract

Summary:

Between 1932 and 1963 University of Pittsburgh anatomist Davenport Hooker, Ph.D., performed and filmed noninvasive studies of reflexive movement on more than 150 surgically aborted human fetuses. The resulting imagery and information would contribute substantially to new visual and biomedical conceptions of fetuses as baby-like, autonomous human entities that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s. Hooker's methods, though broadly conforming to contemporary research practices and views of fetuses, would not have been feasible later. But while Hooker and the 1930s medical and general public viewed live fetuses as acceptable materials for nontherapeutic research, they also shared a regard for fetuses as developing humans with some degree of social value. Hooker's research and the various reactions to his work demonstrate the varied and changing perspectives on fetuses and fetal experimentation, and the influence those views can have on biomedical research.

Friday, March 14, 2014

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Heard embryology models at Medical Museum










Local man's father honored with national embryology exhibition
... and to attend an exhibit on Tuesday that celebrates their father's work in research embryology at the National Museum of Health and Medicine.









Sunday, February 23, 2014

Army Medical Museum's Shufeldt was an unattractive character






Beyond this article, which has to be read to be believed, he was a fervent racist.


Museum Files: Audubon legacy outshines scandal
In 1882, Shufeldt was named curator in the Army Medical Museum. He retired in 1891 with a disability for heart disease. Shufeldt had a thirst for ...





Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Friday, January 24, 2014

Newly-created digital archives from African-American psychiatric hospital


Digital Archive to House 100 Years of Historical Documents from World's First Black Mental Institution; UT Scholar Tells Forgotten Story of African-American Psychiatric Patients

Released: 1/23/2014 12:00 PM EST
Source Newsroom: University of Texas at Austin

 

 

http://www.newswise.com/articles/digital-archive-to-house-100-years-of-historical-documents-from-world-s-first-black-mental-institution

 

 

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Indiana Medical History Museum profiled after brain thefts


This is a nice little museum with a great operating theater.






Brain thefts boost attendance at tiny museum
USA TODAY - The medical museum had an exhibit in 2010 called "The Resurrectionists: Body Snatching in Indiana," which recalled a string of grave robberies in ...




 




Friday, January 17, 2014

National Library of Medicine's World War I digitization

National Library of Medicine appears to be scanning World War I books and putting them on the Medical Heritage Library. As of now, 32 are cataloged and tagged. There's some obscure-looking material there.

Newly found dissection photo

My good friend Jim Edmonson put together a book of dissection photographs a couple of years ago. Since then, I've been keeping my eyes open for them. Here's one from a collection recently transferred to BUMED's Office of Medical History. Alexander Lyle, one of the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery graduates won a Medal of Honor in World War I.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/navymedicine/12000032284/

Monday, January 13, 2014

Jan 22: Drawing History: Telling the Stories of Science through Comics and Graphic Novels

On January 22 the Chemical Heritage Foundation will present a live webcast exploring how graphic novels, comic books, and animation are used to tell true stories about science. Titled "Drawing History: Telling the Stories of Science through Comics and Graphic Novels," the webcast will feature graphic novelist Jonathan Fetter-Vorm and historian of science Bert Hansen. Our guests will discuss the power of visual media in telling history.


Jonathan Fetter-Vorm is the author of
Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb, which merges text and imagery to vividly detail the race to build and the decision to drop the first atomic bombs.

Bert Hansen is professor of history of science and medicine at Baruch College of The City University of New York. His book,
Picturing Medical Progress from Pasteur to Polio, shows how mass-media images both shaped and reflected popular attitudes to medicine from the late 19th to the mid-20th century. Professor Hansen has also contributed to Chemical Heritage magazine.

 

You are invited to watch this discussion via webcast. "Drawing History: Telling the Stories of Science through Comics and Graphic Novels" will air at 6:30 p.m. EST at chemheritage.org/histchem.

 

For further information contact Michal Meyer via e-mail at MMeyer@chemheritage.org or call her at 215 873-8217.

Friday, January 10, 2014

West Virginia medical museum proposed


Doctor hopes to bring children's medical museum to the city Huntington Herald Dispatch
Dr. Ali Oliashirazi laid out his plans for the Huntington Children's Medical Museum during his inaugural presidential address at the society's first ...


Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Turkish medical museum to open

cal museum"
EXHIBITIONS > Seljuk Museum set to open in central Anatolian ... Hurriyet Daily News
Some parts of the museum will focus on the Seljuk civilization and other parts have been organized as a medical museum, which highlights the ...




Friday, January 3, 2014

Brain samples stolen from Indiana medical museum


Brain samples stolen from Indiana medical museum nwitimes.com
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Authorities say a man stole brain samples of long-dead mental patients from the Indiana Medical History Museum that were ...


Thursday, January 2, 2014

Daily Heller blog on French medical packaging.

More French Medical Fun

By:  | January 2, 2014

Vintage medical and medicinal products in France are designed second to none. The typographic flair and aesthetic joie de vivre are apparent in all the sundries and druggist's wares. Here are a few I just picked up.


http://www.printmag.com/daily-heller/more-french-medical-fun/

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

BUMED's 1500th item uploaded to Medical Heritage Library is WW2 POW journal

Today we've uploaded our 1500th item to the Medical Heritage Library. It's a journal kept by a Pharmacists Mate in a Japanese prison throughout World War II.  Our main page is at https://archive.org/details/usnavybumedhistoryoffice and includes Navy Medicine magazine and other publications, ephemera and a few manuscripts.  Robert Kentner's journal information follows.

https://archive.org/details/KentnersJournal
Kentner's Journal.
Bilibid Prison, Manila, P.I. from 12-8-41 to 2-5-45.

A Daily Journal of Events Connected with the Personnel of the U. S. NAVAL HOSPITAL, CANACAO, P. I . From the Outbreak of the War in the Philippine Islands 12-8-41 Until the Liberation of Bilibid Prison
2-8-45.
By Robert W. Kentner, PhM1c USN
A Prisoner in Bilibid
*****
This journal was presented to the Hospital Corps Archives Unit, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, by the Author, on 21 April, 1945, after his arrival as a repatriated prisoner of war at the U.S. Naval Hospital, Bethesda, Md.



Michael Rhode
Archivist / Curator
US Navy BUMED Office of Medical History
703-681-2539
michael.rhode@med.navy.mil

mailing address:
7700 Arlington Blvd
Falls Church, VA 22042

physical address:
BUMED Detachment, Falls Church.
Four Skyline Place, Suite 602,
5113 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA




Monday, December 2, 2013

Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh gets new funding

I really enjoyed this museum when I was there a few years back.
Historical medical museum to get multi-million pound upgrade stv.tv
An Edinburgh museum - home to one of the UK's largest and most historic collection of surgical pathology artefacts - is to be transformed with the help of a £2.7 ...
See all stories on this topic »
The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh's museum to get £2.7 ... BBC News
Open to the public since 1832, it is Scotland's oldest medical museum. The museum charts the transition of medicine from witchcraft through to science.


Nice "found" bit of history on artificial legs, ca. 1885.

Ghosts of DC at http://ghostsofdc.org/2013/12/02/amazingly-detailed-fords-theatre-photo-1870s/ discusses a picture of Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC, but also notes that an artificial limb store can be seen in the photo, and then quotes an 1886 Wash. Post article w/ the owner.

The Army Medical Museum & Library would have been in Ford's at this time, as was the Records and Pension Office (which did the research on Civil War pension claims).

Mike Rhode

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

NMHM's Resolved exhibit gets second life


Katy woman remembers her dad who never came home from Vietnam Houston Chronicle
Who: The Health Museum, in cooperation with the Texas Capital Vietnam Veterans Monument and the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Silver Spring ...


Tuesday, November 19, 2013

NMHM exhibit reviewed in Journal of American History

Journal of American History

Dec 2013

 

National Museum of Health and Medicine

National Museum of Health and Medicine, U.S. Army Fort Detrick Forest Glen Annex, Silver Spring, Md. http://www.medicalmuseum.mil/.

 

Permanent exhibition, opened May 2012. 5,000 sq. ft. Adrienne Noe, museum director; Gallagher & Associates, exhibit planning and design; KlingStubbins in coordination with the Baltimore district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, architecture and engineering.

 

by Ashley Bowen-Murphy

Brown University
Providence, Rhode Island

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Nov 19: NLM History of Medicine Lecture features Smithsonian



You are cordially invited to the next NLM History of Medicine lecture, to
be held on Tuesday, November 19, from 2pm to 3pm in the Lister Hill
Auditorium, Building 38A, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD.
Diane Wendt, Associate Curator, National Museum of American History, will
speak on "Vessels, Tubes and Tanks: Historic Biotechnologies at the
Smithsonian," which marks the opening of the new NLM exhibition "From DNA
to Beer: Harnessing Nature in Medicine and Industry." The exhibition will
be on display in the History of Medicine Division from November 2013 to
May 2014 and have an online presence to reach a wide public audience.

Drawing from the collections of the National Library of Medicine and the
National Museum of American History, From DNA to Beer will help to promote
public understanding of the dynamic relationship between microbes,
technology, and science and medicine.

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<mailto: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<mailto:greenbes@mail.nih.gov>

Friday, October 25, 2013

New book: THE LUCKY FEW: The Fall of Saigon and the Rescue Mission of the USS Kirk

Bookcover.jpgTHE LUCKY FEW
The Fall of Saigon and the Rescue Mission of the USS Kirk
by Jan K. Herman

Published by Naval Institute Press


Binding: Hardcover & eBook Available at Publication Date
Number of Pages: 192
Subject: Vietnam War
Date Available: November 15, 2013

_______________________________________________________________________


As the Vietnam War reached its tragic climax in the last days of April 1975, a task force of U.S. Navy ships cruised off South Vietnam’s coast. Their mission was to support the evacuation of American embassy personnel and military advisers. But the task force was also assigned to secure the safety of South Vietnamese who had “sensitive” military information in their possession and whose lives would be in danger once the North Vietnamese consolidated their inevitable victory.

The magnitude of a nation’s final collapse had suddenly become tangible. For days prior to the fall of Saigon, the by-products of the North Vietnamese army’s relentless conquest included thousands of panicked refugees trying to flee the country in anything that would float or fly.

“It was Dunkirk in reverse,” observed Paul Jacobs, commanding officer of USS Kirk during Frequent Wind, the operation that turned the destroyer escort into a haven for refugees escaping South Vietnam. Kirk’s officers and enlisted personnel—trained as warriors—instantly transformed their man-of-war into a humanitarian assistance ship. Desperation and suffering gave way to reassurance as crew members fed their unexpected and anguished guests, dispensed medical care, diapered infants, and provided hope to a dispirited people.

The Lucky Few focuses on one small U.S. Navy warship from that task force. Kirk took part in the rescue of not only the remnants of the South Vietnamese fleet, but also dealt with 32,000 refugees on board those ships. Although the Vietnam War ended in chaos and shame, the epic story of USS Kirk and her success in rendering humanitarian assistance under inconceivable circumstances reflects one of America’s few shining moments during this military withdrawal. Almost forty years later The Lucky Few brings to light this relatively unknown heroic tale in the South China Sea of a people caught up in the death throes of a nation and their subsequent passage to freedom.


~ Advance Praise for The Lucky Few

“Operation Frequent Wind and the last days of the Vietnam War have remained largely absent from the public eye—until now. What an irony that such a catastrophic war comes to a close with one of the U.S. military’s greatest humanitarian efforts of the twentieth century. Jan Herman has conducted tremendous research in The Lucky Few to illustrate the immense courage displayed by the men of the USS Kirk (FF-1087), which led to the successful rescue of over 32,000 South Vietnamese. Congratulations to the men of the USS Kirk and to all of CTF 76-1.”

—The Honorable Richard L. Armitage, 13th U.S. Deputy Secretary of State

“Jan Herman’s thoroughly researched and beautifully written account of the USS Kirk and her crew’s participation in the final days of the Vietnam War, the fall of Saigon, and the evacuation at sea of thousands of Vietnamese refugees underscores both the tragedy and the triumph of war. This book illustrates the dual purpose of our Navy—a weapon of war and also an instrument to provide humanitarian assistance and care anywhere and anytime. This story, lost until this writing, needs to be read by every American sailor and citizen. They will see first hand our Navy in action. They will also see the courage, compassion, and the stellar leadership of Captain Jacobs and his brilliant USS Kirk crew.”

—Vice Adm. Adam M. Robinson Jr., MC, USN (Ret.), 36th Surgeon General of the U.S. Navy

“Jan Herman’s extensively researched and meticulously detailed account of the USS Kirk during the final weeks of the Vietnam War is a riveting portrait of heroic men in unheroic circumstances; it provides a fresh and essential perspective on this troubled chapter in American history.”

—Rory Kennedy, filmmaker


The Author

Jan K. Herman served as the historian of the Navy Medical Department and as special assistant to the Surgeon General for thirty-three years. He also produced an hour-long documentary, The Lucky Few, which has gained international acclaim since its premiere at the Smithsonian in 2010.


He is the author of Battle Station Sick Bay, Frozen in Memory, Navy Medicine in Vietnam, Murray’s Ark and Other Stories, and lives in Takoma Park, MD.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Famous Tumors on Radiolab

http://www.radiolab.org/story/update-famous-tumors/

When we first released Famous Tumors, Rebecca Skloot's book about the life and legacy of Henrietta Lacks (and her famous cells) had just hit the shelves. Since then, some interesting things have happened to both Henrietta's cells and her family. So, 4 years later, we have a newly updated show!

This hour, we poke and prod at the good, bad, and ugly sides of tumors -- from the growth that killed Ulysses S. Grant, to mushy lumps leaping from the faces of infected Tasmanian Devils, to a mass that awakened a new (though pretty strange) kind of euphoria for one man. Plus, the updated story of one woman's medically miraculous cancer cells, and how they changed modern science and, eventually, her family's understanding of itself.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

History of medicine articles in today's Washington Post

Washington museums' hidden treasures

By Roger Catlin, 

Washington Post October 13 2013

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/washington-museums-hidden-treasures/2013/10/10/ee9a9e4c-29f5-11e3-97a3-ff2758228523_story.html

Three of these are medical and Judy Chelnick and Diane Wendt are quoted -

Jarvik-7 artificial heart

National Museum of American History

Marie Curie's radium

National Museum of American History

White Eagle's Indian Rattle Snake Oil Liniment

National Museum of American History


and this wirestory is making the rounds -

Einstein's brain a wonder of  connectedness


Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Other Civil War legs in DC besides Daniel Sickles

NATIONAL Museum of Health and Medicine open in spite of government shutdown.


Who needs the Smithsonian and National Gallery when there's the Medical Museum?

By ,

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/who-needs-the-smithsonian-and-national-gallery-when-theres-the-medical-museum/2013/10/02/2f31e8f6-2b8c-11e3-97a3-ff2758228523_story.html


Since it's a federal government museum, and I don't see how it can be open during a government shutdown. The Museum director is a GS government employee. Especially if the contractors have no federal employees to supervise them. Unless they've added a uniformed military presence to their supervisory chain...

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Mutter Museum features Civil War medicine



Philly's Mutter Museum sharpens focus on the Civil War's slain and ... Newsworks.org
"So the Army created the Army Medical Museum during the war, in Washington. There was a standing order for physicans in the field -- when they see something ...



Thursday, September 5, 2013

BUMED's Office of Medical History's 1000th item added to the Medical Heritage Library



The Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery's Office of Medical History is uploading their 1000th item to the Medical Heritage Library (http://www.medicalheritage.org/ ).  Oddly enough, the item, a logbook from Dr. James Ambler, is not medical. Instead it documents polar weather conditions.

In 1883, Lieutenants Giles B. Harber and William H. Schuetze journeyed to Siberia's Lena Delta to retrieve the bodies and personal effects of the crew of USS Jeannette, an ill-fated expedition to the North Pole. Among the remains was the body of Passed Assistant Surgeon James Markham
Ambler (1848-1881), his personal journal and a logbook of atmospheric conditions that he maintained throughout the expedition (1879-1881). One hundred and thirty years later, Dr. Ambler's journal and weather observations, in the respective collections of the National Archives
(NARA) and the Bureau of Medicine (BUMED), are to be used in the "Old Weather" project (http://www.oldweather.org/ ) headed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) and NARA. BUMED's historians brought the logbook to NARA which photographed it in 2012. Volunteers at the "Old Weather" project, which uses Navy logs to track climate, should soon finish the official deck logs and be able to work on transcribing Ambler's log (http://www.oldweather.org/ships/50a27fd77438ae05bd000002 ).

Two versions of "Atmospheric Observations on board U.S. Arctic Steamer Jeannette, 1879-1881" are being uploaded for use in different viewers - the double page where a reader can see the entire page for the day is at http://archive.org/details/JeannetteAtmosphericObservationsLogdoublePages
The single page version, which may work better on tablets, is at
http://archive.org/details/JeannetteAtmosphericObservationsLogsinglePages

For all of the items uploaded by BUMED, click https://archive.org/details/usnavybumedhistoryoffice
Adding to the value of items in the MHL, a full-text search of the interiors of publications is provided by Harvard University's Countway Library. Updated once a month, this feature can be used at the MHL homepage at http://www.medicalheritage.org/

Attached is an image of Ambler, taken from a historical plaque in the
Office's collections and a picture of the logbook cover

James L. Monro, FRCS (1939 - 2013), great-grandson of Major Walter Reed.


James L. Monro, FRCS (1939 - 2013), great-grandson of Major Walter Reed.

I was informed last week by Mrs. Sean (Mary) O'Dwyer, the great-grandaughter of Major Walter Reed, that her brother, James L. Monro, FRCS, (great-grandson of Reed) died 29 August 2013 (see below). Dr. Monro, an accomplished paediatric cardiac surgeon, died at his home in Southampton, England after a long battle with prostate cancer.

Major Reed (1851-1902) and his wife Emilie (Lawrence) had two children, MG Walter Lawrence Reed and Emilie (Blossom).

His son, MG Reed (1877-1956) married Lucy Blackford and they had two daughters, Mary and Landon.

Landon Reed (1906-1999?) married Dr. John Monro (1903-1993) of England. They had a son and daughter, the two great-grandchildren of WR named above, James (1939-2013) and Mary (b.1941), a Nightingale Nurse.

In early 2000, on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the Yellow Fever Board, Dr. Monro was invited to attend ceremonies as guest of honor at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Hospital obligations in England prevented him from doing so. His sister Mary, however, was keenly interested and, welcomed in his place, she visited the old Walter Reed AMC in October. She was warmly received by the staff. She gave a brief talk describing the family tree of Major Reed, toured the hospital, visited the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences where a lecture on the Yellow Fever Board was presented, and was shown archival material at the National Museum of Health and Medicine (then at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology) by Mr. Michael Rhode.

Dr. Monro, a renown cardiac surgeon in his own right, was a modest man who seldom, if ever, alluded to his family heritage. But he kept prominently displayed in his office at Southampton General Hospital an old framed National Geographic map of northern Virginia (titled "Reaches of the Nation's Capital"). The map itself was illuminated, so to speak, with a border of a dozen small portraits of local historical figures and their birthplaces. Included in these embroidered figures was Major Reed -- Monro's only tip-of-the-hat to his great grandfather.

His funeral will be a private service for family only, 6 September.

A memorial service is scheduled for 23 October at Romsey Abbey, Hampshire, England.


-Dave Edmond Lounsbury, MD, FACP