Why we do this

Today we got an email in the archives from a man in California who found pictures of his mother, a World War 2 nurse, on our Flickr page. His mother's 87th birthday is coming soon and he wants to print one of the photos for her. He said he's not sure she knows these photos exist.

So many of our images have no or very little information, but in this case his mother's name was spelled out in the caption to all four!!! photos of her. I have often said to myself, as I am posting this kind of detail, that someone is going to be trolling the internet, looking for their mom or dad, and may very well find one of the things we've tossed up there.

It's exactly this reason that we do what we do, with the hope that we're the connection between today and yesterday. Have I said I love my job?

Letter of the day: January 25

This letter followed immediately after one thanking a Colonel C. Sutherland for his donation of two Indian arrowheads.

 

January 25, 1869

 

General:

 

It appears to me right that the contributors to the section of Indian Curiosities etc., should be notified of the transfer of their donations to the Smithsonian Institution, and I would therefore respectfully submit the enclosed “Memorandum,”  and suggest that it be printed, or some modification of it, and distributed in the form, if you approve, of the Memorandum of Sept. 1868.

 

Very respectfully,

Your obd’t servant,

[George A. Otis]

Ass’t Surgeon, U.S.A.

Curator, A.M.M.

 

Bvt. Brig Gen’l C.H. Crane,

Ass’t Surg. General, US Army

NY Times expose on medical radiation injuries

In the past, we've posted pictures of radiation burns from the early years of the 20th century here and on our Flickr site. The NY Times reports that a century later, this is still an ongoing problem:

 

The Radiation Boom

Radiation Offers New Cures, and Ways to Do Harm

By WALT BOGDANICH

Published: January 24, 2010

While new technology saves the lives of countless cancer patients, errors can lead to unspeakable pain and death.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/health/24radiation.html

Brunswig Mausoleum, Metairie Cemetery, New Orleans

Brunswig Mausoleum, Metairie Cemetery
Originally uploaded by tiz_herself

Lucien Napoleon Brunswig (1854-1943) donated the School of Pharmacy at USC. He moved to Los Angeles in 1903 and became a partner in a local drug company. In 1907 he bought out his partner and created the Brunswig Drug Company with branches in Phoenix, Tucson, and San Diego. Among the company's earliest buildings are three that are still standing on the west side of Main Street, across from the Pico House at El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument (Los Angeles). He also owned the Brunswig Building on 2nd Street, which was demolished in 1968. Lucien Napoleon Brunswig became the city's largest wholesale drug supplier. He sold commercial medications and patent medicines that he invented himself and supplied to many city pharmacies.

I have no idea why he's buried in New Orleans and not Los Angeles.

Follow the picture to close-ups of the two statues flanking the door.

Some things never change

From our military working dog expert, Mike Lemish:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/world/story/1199588.html

 

The same issue about getting dog food distributed properly was a big problem in Vietnam - now 40 years later they (the military) still have the same problem in Afghanistan. Go figure - some things never change.

 

ARF!

Mike

Letter of the day: January 24

Received wisdom has the Medical Museum collecting American Indian remains, and later transferring them to the Smithsonian, but this form letter shows that material went both ways.


Smithsonian Institution
U.S. National Museum
Washington City, Jan. 24, 1878

Sir:

In accordance with the arrangement between the Smithsonian Institution and the Army Medical Museum, I have the honor to transmit the collections mentioned below,t he receipt of which please acknowledge.

Very respectfully, yours,

Spencer F. Baird
Asst. Secretary S.I.

Collection human bones from Indian graves in Santa Barbara Col, Col., gathered in 1875 by the expedition of Lt. Geo. M. Wheeler.

Covetousness, a deadly sin

Medical ephemera
Originally uploaded by tiz_herself

These would fit so nice and neatly in our GMPI (General Medical Products Information) collection. I had a serious case of envy. From the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum.

Goddess of Evils

Goddess of Evils
Originally uploaded by tiz_herself

Lest you think we're fixated on STDs... We also think highly of alternative and complementary medicine. From the voodoo section at the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum.

Theater of War

Because I forgot to turn off my alarm yesterday, I was treated to an early-morning segment on NPR called Metro Connection. It was about a DOD program called Theater of War, in which plays of the ancient Greeks are used to make connections with today's soldiers. One of the venues is Walter Reed. You can listen to the segment at metroconnection.org.

Letter of the day: January 23

Sternberg is known as one of the fathers of bacteriology and became the Surgeon General himself. Steve Hill of our staff also notes, "10th Cavalry was one of the two all-black cavalry regiments (Buffalo Soldiers) created shortly after Civil War."


Fort Riley, Kansas
Jan: 23rd, 1868

General

I have the honor to send herewith for microscopic examination (if desired) the kidneys of Pvt: James Garrode Co “G” 10th U.S. Cavalry, who died at this hospital of Brights disease on the 19th inst:

I have a full record of this case, which I will transmit with my next monthly report of Sick and Wounded.

I also transmit a fibrous polypus, removed from the pharynx of Pvt David Young Co “K” 10 US Cavalry.

Very respectfully
Your obt: servt

G.M. Sternberg

Asst. Surg: & Bvt. Maj
US Army

Bvt. Maj. Genl. J.K. Barnes
Surgeon Genl: US Army
Washington, DC

[an accompanying note written on the reverse says “Receipt acknowledged 1-30-68, and statement that kidneys were too much decomposed and were thrown away. Request for history of polypus.]

That Old-Time Gonorrhea Treatment

Those of you who follow our Flickr account know we have a special place in our hearts for STDs. Prophylactics, propaganda, you name it; if it has to do with a social disease, we do our best to publish it.

I went to a dusty, off-the-beaten-track museum in New Orleans last weekend - the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum. I have a lot of very neat stuff from there, but have to lead off with A Safe and Speedy Remedy for the Cure of Gonorrhea and Gleet. I have never heard of Gleet.

Letter of the day: January 22nd

Here’s a letter showing both how the Museum expanded its interests and influences after the Civil War, and how the photographic collection grew. By the way, this was a very rare operation even through the Civil War. When a surgeon performed one, the case was named after him.

 

Surgeon General’s Office

Washington City, DC

January 22^nd, 1868

 

Doctor:

 

I am instructed by the Surgeon General to acknowledge the reception of your interesting letter of the 20^th inst. A photograph of the patient on whom you operated eighteen years ago, and who has so long survived so dreadful a mutilation, would be a very interesting addition to our collection. In a few days, I will send you a picture we have secured of Dr. Morton’s patient taken nearly a year after the photograph from which the plate in Circular No. 7 S.G.O., 1867, was copied.

 

I should be glad to secure a picture of your patient of about the same size. The expence (sic) will be defrayed from the Army Medical Museum Fund.

 

Please instruct the photographer to print four or five copies and to send them with the negative to me at the Army Medical Museum, No. 454, Tenth Street, Washington, together with the bill.

 

The Surgeon General is much gratified that you and other surgeons of practical experience, in the operation of amputation at the hip-joint, commend the report he has published on the subject.

 

I am, Doctor,

Very respectfully,

Your obt. servant,

By order of the Surgeon General:

 

[George A. Otis]

Ass’t Surgeon, U.S.A.

Curator Army Medical Museum

 

Dr. Washington T. Duffee

N.E. corner of 18^th & Wallace Sts.

Philadelphia, Penna

 

 

Web 2.0? Laughing through my tears

This article appeared in the NY Times today:

Aid Urged for Groups Fighting Internet Censors
By BRAD STONE
Published: January 21, 2010
Five United States senators want the government to move ahead with plans to provide $45 million to help people in other countries evade Web restrictions.

This paragraph could easily have "Walter Reed medical center" substituted in for "China and Iran":

But in the online age the nature of censorship has changed, and regimes like those in China and Iran often deny their populations access to Web news outlets and sites like Google, Facebook and Twitter.

...although we can get to Google. Not Youtube, or blogs though.

Orthopedic surgery book mentioned in Post based on Museum photographs

In a good article about the difference between military and other types of emergency surgery, Surgeon seeks to prevent 'unnecessary amputations' in Haiti's earthquake zone, 

by David Brown, Washington Post January 21, 2010, cites Orthopaedic Injuries of the Civil War. This book was written by Julian Kuz, an orthopedic surgeon, and is illustrated with photographs of wounded soldiers from the Museum's collection.

 

 

 

 

Letter of the day: Jan 21st

Embryology was a new science in 1905 – and the museum was apparently back in the business of taking ‘bottled monsters. Liz Lockett of our embryology collection notes that embryology dates from the 17th century, but the large systematic collections were done at the turn of the twentieth century.’

 

Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 8084

 

January 21, 1905

 

Dr. J. J. Repetti,

404 Seward Square, S.E.

Washington, D. C.

 

Dear Sir:

 

I am directed by the Surgeon General to express his thanks for the specimen of monstrous foetus received from you on this day. It will be added to the collections with a properly inscribed card.

 

Will you have the further kindness to furnish the Museum with a history of the case?

 

Very respectfully,

 

C.L. Heinzmann

Col. Asst. Surgeon General, U.S.A.

In charge of Museum & Library Division

Letter of the day: Jan 20th

The Museum has an extensive numismatics collection – this letter shows how it was built up.

January 20, 1897

Dr. H. R. Storer,

Newport, R. I.

Dear Doctor:

Your letter of the 17^th inst. Has been received. I shall be glad to purchase the medals you offer at the prices quoted, viz:

Rokitansky, 6.10
Howard, Am. Jour. Num., 687, .35
“ “ “ 689, .35
“ “ “ “ 726, .50
------
$7.30

You may send them by Adams Express, freight to be paid here. We have Howard, Am. Jour. Num., #688.

The famine, Germany (Danket dem Herrn) seems to be identical with Pfeiffer u. Ruland #157, but ours has “Ps. 116,” and I can notice no defacement.

Very sincerely,

D. L. Huntington

Deputy Surgeon General, U.S. Army

In charge of Museum and Library Division

Louisville history of medicine and science meeting

Colleagues:

 

The 12th annual meeting of the Southern Association for the History of Medicine and Science-SAHMS- will be held in Louisville, KY March 5-6, 2010. There will be over 70 papers presented in these two days, along with a tour of the first U.S. Marine Hospital built on an inland waterway. Registration for all students is only $75.00. All meeting, registration, and hotel information can be found at:

 

http://www.sahms.net/HTML/2010.htm

 

Please share this information with your faculty and graduate students.

 

Thank you for your assistance.

 

Jonathon Erlen, Ph.D.

SAHMS Program Committee

History of Medicine

University of Pittsburgh

412-6488927

Times on Web 2.0-influenced museums

Online, It's the Mouse That Runs the Museum

By ALEX WRIGHT

Published: January 20, 2010

New online ventures let users be curators.

 

Some of us would like to try more of this... however, we are blocked from Flickr, Youtube and blogs and similar sites, so, probably not.

Julie Brown speaks at NLM

Julie's done a lot of research in the Museum over the years.

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE
History of Medicine Division Seminar
Wednesday, January 27, 2010 2-3:30pm
NLM Visitor Center, Bldg 38A
Bethesda, MD

"Health and Medicine on Display: International Expositions in the United
States, 1876-1904."

Julie K. Brown
Independent Scholar

International expositions, with their massive assembling of exhibits and
audiences, were the media events of their time. In transmitting a new
culture of visibility that merged information, entertainment, and
commerce, they provided a unique opportunity for the public to become
aware of various social and technological advances. This presentation
examines how international expositions, through their exhibits and
infrastructures, sought to demonstrate innovations in applied health and
medical practice.

All are welcome.

Note: The next history of medicine seminar will be held on Thursday, February 25, 2010 at 2-3:30pm in the NLM's Lister Hill Auditorium. In aspecial program celebrating African American History Month, NIH scholar Sheena Morrison will speak on "Nothing to Work with but Cleanliness: The Training of African American Midwives in the South."

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

Stephen J. Greenberg, MSLS, PhD
Coordinator of Public Services
History of Medicine Division
National Library of Medicine
National Institutes of Health
Department of Health and Human Services

301-435-4995
greenbes@mail.nih.gov

Letter of the day? January 19

Stealing the idea from another museum’s blog - http://www.starbulletin.com/features/20100117_ahoy.html - it seems like it might be interesting to look at 150 years of museum history, one day at a time by transcribing letters in the collection. Here’s one from 101 years ago, showing that ordering office supplies never gets any easier. This is page 1 of Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 3629.

 

 

Washington, January 19, 1899

 

Bausch & Lomb Optical Co.

Rochester, N.Y.

 

Gentlemen:

 

I have received through the Medical Purveyor at New York, 4 dozen stender dishes, Cat. No. 4075, D. They are altogether too small for our purpose and I have this day returned them to you, by express, to be exchanged for 4 dozen No. 4075 B. If you will examine your Catalogue you will see that the illustrations of No. 4075 do not at all agree with the figures given as to sizes and proportions, an error which misled us in ordering the goods.

 

 Very respectfully,

 

Walter Reed

Major & Surgeon, U.S.A.

Curator.

 

B&L sent the correct order a week later.

St Roch's cemetery gate

St Roch gate
Originally uploaded by tiz_herself

On a visit to New Orleans this weekend, I saw mention of a cemetery founded by a priest in thanksgiving for his parishioners being spared death by yellow fever. Apparently those interred here died of something other than yellow fever. Well, I had to go see this place and thought I finally found somewhere that Joanna of Morbid Anatomy had not been. No. Not only did she beat me there, she got pictures of the discarded prosthetics room with the gate open; I had to make do shooting through the bars. Follow this picture back to the rest I've posted on my flickr page.

Finds from the Carnegie Reprints

Found an article called "Irrational Elements in Some Theories of Life" by C. P. Raven, 1956. Its opening paragraphs really struck me.

"One of the starting points of modern (study of significance) is the recognition that the words of everyday language for each person are charged with a complex of 'meanings', and that part of this complex of meanings, of emotional and volitional elements, is taken over in the language of science.

As the progress of science is entirely dependent on the mutual understanding between people working in the same field, it is important at least to recognize these irrational elements in our scientific thinking, and were possible to eliminate them..."

So much information is presented to us these days from so many sources, how often do we stop to think about the "emotional and volitional elements" that had probably colored what was said?

Preserving poster sessions

I was given a couple of cds of AFIP poster sessions by the IT department guy who puts them together. I got 83 attached to the online catalogue today – barely catalogued themselves, but still findable, and not dependent on cd technology, or the hard drive of one computer.

Morphine and PTSD

An interesting article in the Post looks at a new claim that morphine can prevent PTSD. "Morphine found to help stave off PTSD in wounded troops," By David Brown, Thursday, January 14, 2010.

Article link: Fort Detrick to inherit medical museum

Fort Detrick to inherit medical museum Originally published January 12, 2010 By Megan Eckstein News-Post Staff http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?storyid=99997

Fort Detrick will bring a renowned medical museum under its control, as the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington prepares to close and scatters its resources to local military installations....

Lexie Lord's 'Condom Nation' reviewed by Post

Alexandra Lord was the US Public Health Service Historian after John Parascandola, and there must be something about that position, because they both wrote books about sexually-transmitted disease education. Lexie's is reviewed in today's Washington Post -

Book review: Susan Jacoby reviews 'Condom Nation' by Alexandra Lord
By Susan Jacoby
Sunday, January 10, 2010

CONDOM NATION
The U.S. Government's Sex Education Campaign From World War I to the Internet
By Alexandra M. Lord
Johns Hopkins Univ. 224 pp. $40

One slight note about the review - there seems to be some confusion about the various Surgeon Generals. There are four SGs in the US government - Army, Navy, Air Force and Public Health Service. The article is illustrated by a poster from the US Navy, a poster by the US Army is quoted in the review, and the book itself is on the PHS Surgeon General of course.

Primate Researcher Bluntschli

Emmy was organizing our bio-files this week and made some fun finds. These are from the Bluntschli file. The photo on the left is a post card from his travels in Madagascar around the turn of the last century. Dr Bluntschli did some seminal work in describing the primates and other animals there. He clearly had a great sense of humor. Many of the specimens can be found at the American Museum of Natural History.

Kindred embryology notebook

From the Kindred notebook. An interesting end of career project. For all you students out there this is a great example of what a lab notebook should look like.

(this notebook was discovered mixed in with Registry of Noteworthy Pathology records by Ass't Archivist Stocker, and we've housed it in the Human Developmental Anatomy Center for researchers - Mike Rhode)

Addition to the Archives

While cleaning out boxes that hadn’t been looked at in a while, I found a 2-ring binder of notes and drawings done by James E. Kindred in 1959. He was a Ph.D. in the Anatomy Department at the University of Virginia and the binder is a record of some studies on vestigial tail (embryology). This is a kind of find we call “Found in Collection.” When I googled his name to find out more about him, it looks like he had a long career: I found articles published as early as 1929. If his name rings a bell, please let us know.

Miscellaneous Articles, Chiefly Interesting as Curiosities

I’ve been busy uploading PDFs of our scanned curatorial logbooks to our in-house database (and to a lesser extent to the Internet Archive, although they will all be eventually put there too), and came across a few entries in the logbook with the above title. I mean, how could you not open this one up for a look, with a title like that?

 

“One foot of submarine telegraph cable. It is made of copper wire, coated with gutta-percha cased in tarred [coke?] and spirally wrapped with twelve strands of iron wire in one layer. Believed to have been laid by the Rebels between forts Gregg and Sumter and Charleston, and to have been contributed by Acting Assistant Surgeon H.K. Neff.”

 

“Four arrows pulled from the bodies of men slain in the massacre at Ft. Phillip Kearney December 1866. The one with a head is an ordinary hunting, showing that they are also sometimes used in war. Contributed by Bvt. Lt. Col. H.S. Schell, Asst. Surg. USA.”

 

“A crudely fashioned strap, two inches wide made of Army cloth and fastened with two buckles, which was successfully used by a malingerer to induce atrophy of the right leg. Private Ira A. Davidson. E. 13 Connecticut at Knight U.S.A. General Hospital, New Haven, Connecticut.”

 

“A carved soapstone pipe from the West Coast of America. Presented by Mr. J.B. McGuire.”

 

 

 

 

Good summary of influenza response in NY Times

The Museum had an epidemiologist from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research speaking last month, and he noted that if you prevent an epidemic, you never know. His example was West Nile Fever - he said that if you had completely fogged New York City the first year it showed up, and killed all mosquitoes, it wouldn't be established in the US -- but would the political cost have been possible to do that? Especially since one would never have seen the following year's hysteria?

U.S. Reaction to Swine Flu: Apt and Lucky
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
Published: January 2, 2010
Medical experts have found that a series of rapid but conservative decisions by federal officials worked out better than many had dared hope.

Meanwhile, over on our Flickr site

Kathleen's put up some pages I was surprised by on our Flickr site. We've had some logbooks from the 19th-century scanned, but I didn't remember that the logbook of woodcuts had the actual Civil War woodcut prints pasted into it. Very cool. These are for the Medical and Surgical History again.

It looks like we're wrapping up the year with slightly under a million views - 906,255 at the moment. Or maybe 1,165,674. We've never been quite sure of how they measure.

Army Medical Museum mention in American History

I was pleased to find the Civil War history, the Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion by the Army Medical Museum on display in an exhibit on images in books, "Picturing Words: The Power of Book Illustration" by Smithsonian Institution Libraries. The exhibit is at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

AUGUST 2010 INTERNATIONAL HUMAN CADAVER PROSECTION PROGRAM

******   11th ANNUAL SESSION   ******

All interested parties are invited to apply for the

AUGUST 2010 INTERNATIONAL HUMAN CADAVER PROSECTION PROGRAM

August 3 - 5

at the Indiana University School of Medicine - Northwest Dunes Medical
Professional Building 3400 Broadway Gary, Indiana 46408

NEW APPLICATION DEADLINE:       *** APRIL 15, 2010 ***

PROGRAM SPONSORS: Rocco Prosthetics & Orthotic Center (Cincinnati, OH) &
MORTECH Manufacturing (Azusa, CA).

Applications for the August 2010 INTERNATIONAL Human Cadaver Prosection Program are now being accepted.   All participants will learn human gross anatomy, radiology/medical imaging, and the art of skillful dissection of human cadavers.  The CADAVER PROGRAM is an intensive experience of "hands-on" dissection.  Participants who complete the program will receive a certificate of completion and certification for work with biohazards & blood-borne pathogens.  SPECIAL Awards will be presented. [CME Credit is offered]

Representatives from Zimmer, Inc. (Zimmer Orthopedics) will conduct an on-site surgical, orthopedic workshop, and Rocco Prosthetics will present a special prosthetic session.

The Cadaver Prosection will be held on Wednesday, August 4 and Thursday, August 5, 2010, from 7:45 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., and will include 3 evenings of preparatory work in late June (out-of-state participants need not be present for the June sessions).

NEW EVENTS for 2010 include:
Anatomy Research & Clinical Session (June)   -    Suturing Workshop* (Aug.  3rd)   -   IHCPP Reception (Aug.  3rd)
Expanded Hands-On Medical Imaging of Human Cadavers:  US, CT Scan, MRI Scan, plain x-ray (July)*

*Selection of participants to take place in mid-May

TO APPLY for this program and  DOWNLOAD the COMPLETE SUMMER EVENTS SCHEDULE, FLYER and NEW PROGRAM BROCHURE, place the web address (below) into your browser, and then scroll down and click on the AUGUST 2010 INTERNATIONAL HUMAN CADAVER PROSECTION PROGRAM link.

http://medicine.iu.edu/body.cfm?id=4951&oTopID=225

You need not be a medical professional or pre-medical student to participate.  All are encouraged to apply.  Prior participants have included pre-med and pre-vet, nursing, radiologic technology, mortuary science students, other undergraduate and graduate students, teachers, attorneys, lab technicians, etc.  All application materials must be received no later than APRIL 15, 2010.  Accepted applicants will receive notification in early May.  Training begins in June 2010.

For information contact:
Ernest F. Talarico, Jr., Ph.D.
Assistant Director of Medical Education & Assistant Professor of Anatomy
& Cell Biology Director, INTERNATIONAL Human Cadaver Prosection Program
TEL:  (219) 981-4356;  FAX:  (219) 980-6566
Email:  cadaver@iun.edu (Prosection Program); etalaric@iun.edu (IUSM-NW)

Ophthalmologist William Holland Wilmer's legacy in two DC institutions

Here's William Holland Wilmer's plaque at National Cathedral.



We have his ophthalmoscopes. I was surprised to see his name on a post-Christmas visit to the Cathedral.

Mini Book Review: Cranioklepty: Graverobbing and the Search for Genius by Colin Dickey.

$25.95 / $30.95 Can | Non-Fiction Hardcover | 6x9 | 272 pages

September 2009

ISBN: 978-1-932961-86-7

http://unbridledbooks.com/our_books/book/cranioklepty/

This is an entertaining book about the posthumous history of the skulls of a few select famous people, as well as those individuals involved in keeping the skulls and parts thereof above ground. The skulls of Franz Joseph Haydn, Ludwig Beethoven, Emmanuel Swedenborg and Sir Thomas Brown are each discussed in detail. Dickey does an excellent job retelling the stories of each skull and his historical details contextualize the stories quite nicely.

Dickey claims that phrenology, the 19^th century pseudoscientific belief that personality and mental ability could be determined via skull morphology, was the main reason for acquiring these skulls. While he does a good job summarizing the history of phrenology, he places an unnecessary emphasis on using it as the rationale for the collecting of famous skulls rather than the more likely rationales of some form of fetishism or for keeping a personal souvenir of a revered person (think along the lines of the purported remains of saints and religious figures).

While phrenology may have had a role in the creation of large collections of some early craniologists, it does not sufficiently explain the singular thefts of opportunistic grave robbers. Admittedly some of the thieves held the then-popular belief that the shape of the skull revealed the high character of its owner, but that is flimsy evidence that they carried out their secret deeds to further the science of phrenology. Non-academic collectors of human remains still exist, even today, though phrenology is thoroughly discredited.

The stories of the skulls are interesting on their own, but the justification of ‘the search for genius’ subtitle is lacking. Overall, I recommend the book for its historical interest, but as a practicing physical anthropologist, and as such, an admittedly biased critic, I was under whelmed by the contextualization of the stories within the framework of early studies of cranial variation. Such studies, broadly referred to as craniology, were common during the mid 19th century and were part of a search for anatomical basis for intelligence, but unfortunately do little to illuminate the histories of the skulls of these famous men.

-Brian Spatola

The publisher provided the book gratis to Bottled Monsters for the purpose of review.

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF HEALTH AND MEDICINE TO RELOCATE TO SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND

Contact Information: Tim Clarke, Jr., Deputy Director for Communications, (202) 782-2672, timothy.clarke@afip.osd.mil

 

 

 

 

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF HEALTH AND MEDICINE TO

RELOCATE TO SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND

Museum to construct new facility on U.S. Army post known as Forest Glen Annex

 

December 23, 2009, Washington, D.C. – The National Museum of Health and Medicine of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology will relocate to a new state-of-the-art facility in Silver Spring, Maryland, built by Costello Construction of Columbia, Maryland. The relocation is a result of the 2005 Base Closure and Realignment Commission decision to close Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

 

“The Museum is ready for this exciting phase in our relocation,” said Adrianne Noe, Ph.D., Director of the Museum. “We’re encouraged by the warm welcome we’ve received as we engage the local and state community about the Museum’s move into Montgomery County, Maryland. And we’re especially pleased with the support we’re receiving from Ft. Detrick as we look forward to working with them on the Forest Glen Annex campus.”

 

Staff are actively working on prospective exhibit and interpretive plans while, at the same time, working to best integrate the Museum’s vast collections, all with an eye on maintaining and amplifying the Museum’s mission. As plans for exhibit development and public access become more certain, information will be posted to the Museum’s Web site.

 

The Museum’s new facility will include collections management space as well as public exhibitions and offices. A construction schedule has yet to be set but the building is scheduled to be fully functional as of September 15, 2011.

 

Today, a bit of history from the Forest Glen Annex is on display at the Museum. Restored to its original condition is a painting by Jack McMillen, depicting life at the hospital annex during World War II when the facility housed a major U.S. Army rehabilitation facility. The painting, entitled “Psychiatric Patients at Forest Glen,” is an incredible 7 feet by 10 feet and is hanging at the Museum near artifacts related to Major Walter Reed. 

 

All questions and comments may be directed to Tim Clarke, Jr., NMHM Deputy Director for Communications, phone (202) 782-2672, email timothy.clarke@afip.osd.mil.

 

About the National Museum of Health and Medicine:

• The National Museum of Health and Medicine of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, established in 1862, inspires interest in and promotes the understanding of medicine—past, present, and future—with a special emphasis on tri-service American military medicine. As a National Historic Landmark recognized for its ongoing value to the health of the military and to the nation, the Museum identifies, collects, and preserves important and unique resources to support a broad agenda of innovative exhibits, educational programs, and scientific, historical, and medical research. The Museum is an element of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP), a tri-service Army, Navy and Air Force agency of the Department of Defense with a threefold mission of consultation, education and research. The Museum is located at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 6900 Georgia Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. Visit the Museum Web site at www.nmhm.washingtondc.museum or call (202) 782-2200.

 

###

 

Yakovlev collection mentioned in passing in brain dissection article

This article is quite interesting in its own right, but also mentions “Perhaps the best-known pioneer of such whole-brain sectioning is Dr. Paul Ivan Yakovlev, who built a collection of slices from hundreds of brains now kept at a facility in Washington.” The facility is our medical museum and we’re busy digitizing slides and records from the collection.

 

Building a Search Engine of the Brain, Slice by Slice

By BENEDICT CAREY

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/22/health/22brain.html

 

December 22, 2009

 

Museum closed on Monday, December 21

The Federal Government in DC is closed on December 21 due to the snowstorm, so the Medical Museum will closed.

Sept 2010: European Association of Museums for the History of Medical Sciences

The 15th biannual conference of the European Association of Museums for the History of Medical Sciences (EAMHMS) will be held at the University of Copenhagen, 16–19 September, 2010.

This year's cross-disciplinary conference focuses on the challenge to museums posed by contemporary developments in medical science and technology.

The image of medicine that emerges from most museum galleries and exhibitions is still dominated by pre-modern and modern understandings of an anatomical and physiological body, and by the diagnostic and therapeutical methods and instruments used to intervene with the body at the `molar' and tangible level – limbs, organs, tissues, etc.

The rapid transition in the medical and health sciences and technologies over the last 50 years – towards a molecular understanding of human body in health and disease and the rise of a host of molecular and digital technologies for investigating and intervening with the body – is still largely absent in museum collections and exhibitions.

As a consequence, the public can rarely rely on museums to get an understanding of the development and impact of the medical and health sciences in the last 50 years. Biochemistry and molecular biology have resulted in entirely new diagnostic methods and therapeutic regimes and a flourishing biotech industry. The elucidation of the human genome and the emergence of proteomics has opened up the possibility of personalised molecular medicine. Advances in the material sciences and information technology have given rise to a innovative and highly productive medical device industry, which is radically transforming medical practices. But few museums have so far engaged seriously and in a sustained way with these and similar phenomena in the recent history of medical sciences and technologies.

The contemporary transition in medical and health science and technology towards molecularisation, miniaturisation, mediated visualisation, digitalisation and intangibilisation is a major challenge for the museum world; not only for medical museums, but also for museums of science and technology, and indeed for all kinds of museums with an interest in the human body and the methods for intervening with it, including art museums, natural history museums and museums of cultural history.

Contemporary medicine is not only a challenge to exhibition design practices and public outreach strategies but also to acquisition methodologies, collection management and collection-based research. How do museums today handle the material and visual heritage of contemporary medical and health science and technology? How do curators wield the increasing amount and kinds of intangible scientific and digital objects? Which intellectual, conceptual, and practical questions does this challenge give rise to?

The conference will address questions like (but not limited to):

+ How can an increasingly microanatomical, molecularised, invisible and intangible (mediated) human body be represented in a museum setting? Does the post-anatomical body require new kinds of museum displays?
+ How can museums make sense of contemporary molecular-based and digitalised diagnostic and thereapeutic technologies, instrumentation and investigation practices in their display practices?
+ How can museums make use of their older collections together with new acquisitions from contemporary medicine and health science and technology?
+ What is the role of the visual vs. the non-visual (hearing, smell, taste, touch) senses in curatorial practice and in the public displays of contemporary medical science and technology?
+ What can museums learn from science centers, art-science event venues etc. with respect to the public engagement with contemporary medical science and technology? And, vice versa, what can museums provide that these institutions cannot?
+ How can museums draw on bioart, `wet art' and other art forms to stimulate public engagement with the changing medical and health system?
+ How does physical representations of contemporary medicine in museum spaces relate to textual representations in print and digital representations on the web?
+ How can museums integrate emerging social web technologies (Wikipedia, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc.) in the build-up of medical and health exhibitions?
+ What kind of acquisition methods and policies are needed for museums to catch up with the development of contemporary medical science and technology, especially the proliferation of molecular and digital artefacts and images?
+ What kind of problems do museum encounter when they expand the acquisition domain from traditional textual, visual and tangible material objects to digital artefacts (including software, audio- and videorecordings, and digitally stored data) and non-tangible scientific objects.
+ How can participatory acquisitioning, crowd-sourcing, wiki-based methods, etc. (`museum 2.0') be employed for the preservation and curation of the contemporary medical heritage?
+ How can curatorial work in museums draw on medical research and engineering and on academic scholarship in the humanities and social sciences? And, vice versa, how can museums contribute to medical teaching and research and how can their collections stimulate the use of physical objects in the humanities and social sciences?

The conference will employ a variety of session formats. In addition to keynotes and sessions with individual presentations of current research and curatorial work there will also be discussion panels and object demonstration workshops.

We welcome submissions from a wide range of scholars and specialists – including, for example, curators in medical, science and technology museums; scholars in the history, philosophy and social studies of medicine, science and technology; scholars in science and technology studies, science communication studies, museum studies, material studies and visual culture studies; biomedical scientists and clinical specialists; medical, health and pharma industry specialists with an interest in science communication; engineers and designers in the medical device industry; artists, designers and architects with an interest in museum displays, etc.

We are especially interested in presentations that involve the use of material and visual artefacts and we therefore encourage participants to bring illustrative and evocative (tangible or non-tangible) objects for demonstration.

100-300 word proposals for presentations, demonstrations, discussion panels, etc. shall be sent before 28 February 2010 to the chair of the program committee, Thomas Soderqvist, ths@sund.ku.dk.

For further information, see http://tinyurl.com/ylx5atx or contact Thomas Soderqvist, ths@sund.ku.dk. For practical information about travel, accommodation, etc., please contact Anni Harris, konference2010@sund.ku.dk, after 4 January 2010.

The 15th biannual conference of EAMHMS is hosted by Medical Museion, University of Copenhagen.

Morbid Anatomy on TV

Joanna Ebenstein of Morbid Anatomy reports she's on YouTube: "My Library (and, sadly, me), Now on You Tube.

"For those of you who've not been to the Morbid Anatomy Library yet,
this short (and embarrassing) video will give you a sense of what I'm
up to over here in Brooklyn (and maybe urge some of you to come pay a
visit!). A bit hard to watch for me, but some of you may enjoy it."

http://morbidanatomy.blogspot.com/2009/12/morbid-anatomy-library-on-you-tube.html

You can also see her at
www.astropop.com
morbidanatomy.blogspot.com

Obituary for former AFIP staff

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/12/AR2009121202705.html

DAVID T. ARMITAGE, 70 ; Medical officer served at Walter Reed

Matt Schudel

Washington Post

Sunday, December 13, 2009

 

Dec 29: Program for Students (Grades 5-8) on Medieval Medicine

National Museum of Health and Medicine, Classroom

 

Who:

 

Students grades 5-8 (space is limited; pre-registration required; click here to download the registration form.) Students under age 15 must be accompanied by an adult.

 

What:

 

Participate in hands-on activities to learn about the history of medieval medicine and diseases of the time. Activities will include making a plague mask, creating a mini medieval herb garden, and designing a pomander. The program will include a tour of OUTBREAK. Presented in conjunction with OUTBREAK: Plagues that Changed History, on display through January 22, 2010.

 

Cost:

 

FREE.

For more information:

 

On the Web or call (202)782-2673 or nmhminfo@afip.osd.mil

 

 

 

Tim Clarke, Jr. (Contractor, American Registry of Pathology)

Deputy Director (Communications), National Museum of Health and Medicine

6900 Georgia Avenue, NW, Building 54, Washington, D.C. 20307

Phone: (202) 782-2672 -- Mobile: (301) 814-4498 -- Fax: (202) 782-3573

Email: timothy.clarke@afip.osd.mil

Website: www.nmhm.washingtondc.museum

 

NMHM on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MedicalMuseum

NMHM on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MedicalMuseum

 

Mailing Address: NMHM/AFIP, PO Box 59685, Washington, D.C., 20012-0685

 

NOTE: We may be experiencing technical difficulties with email; if you have not received a reply, call (202) 782-2672 to follow-up.

 

Dec 30: Scientific Illustration Using a Microscope

Winter Break Workshop: Scientific Illustration Using a Microscope

 

When:

 

Wednesday, December 30, 2009, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

 

Where:

 

National Museum of Health and Medicine, Classroom

 

Who:

 

Ages 15 and up (space is limited; pre-registration required; click here to download the registration form.)

 

What:

 

Want to try your hand at scientific illustration? The museum hosts a hands-on workshop on how to use microscopes to view germs and "animalcules" and to teach you how to draw what you see. We'll be drawing with pencils but if you have a favorite media bring it along.  There will be a brief discussion of the history of illustration using microscopes, and a brief demonstration of how to use a scope.  Presented in conjunction with OUTBREAK: Plagues that Changed History, on display through January 22, 2010.

 

Cost:

 

FREE.

 

For more information:

 

On the Web or call (202)782-2673 or nmhminfo@afip.osd.mil

 

 

 

 

 

Tim Clarke, Jr. (Contractor, American Registry of Pathology)

Deputy Director (Communications), National Museum of Health and Medicine

6900 Georgia Avenue, NW, Building 54, Washington, D.C. 20307

Phone: (202) 782-2672 -- Mobile: (301) 814-4498 -- Fax: (202) 782-3573

Email: timothy.clarke@afip.osd.mil

Website: www.nmhm.washingtondc.museum

 

NMHM on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MedicalMuseum

NMHM on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MedicalMuseum

 

Mailing Address: NMHM/AFIP, PO Box 59685, Washington, D.C., 20012-0685

 

NOTE: We may be experiencing technical difficulties with email; if you have not received a reply, call (202) 782-2672 to follow-up.

 

NY Times article on drugs for menopause

The original article is illustrated with advertisements which the slug below doesn't mention, but which does show a usfeul side of trade literature collections.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/business/13drug.html

Menopause, as Brought to You by Big Pharma

By NATASHA SINGER and DUFF WILSON

Published: December 13, 2009

Lawsuits and internal documents show how Pfizer and its predecessors promoted the idea of taking hormone drugs.

Bryn Barnard at Museum photos

Ace amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie has put up his photographs of Bryn Barnard speaking at the Museum last weekend. I couldn't make the talk, and I don't know if we recorded it. I can check if anyone would like. We may still have signed copies of his book "Outbreak" as well.

Jim Edmondson on 'Dissection' on Lopate radio show

Leonard Lopate Show / December 07, 2009
Dissection

Author James Edmonson, Chief Curator of the Dittrick Medical Center and Museum at Case Western Reserve University, explains why, in the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century, medical students took pictures of themselves with the cadavers they dissected. His book Dissection: Photographs of a Rite of Passage in American Medicine includes 138 rare, historic photographs that reveal a strange piece of American medical history

Dec 9: Lecture on emerging diseases

Lecture at the NMHM: Investigating Emerging Diseases

When: Wednesday, December 9, 2009, 1:00-2:00 p.m.

What: Dr. Michael Turell, a research entomologist with the Virology Division of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute on Infectious Disease, will discuss the institute's role in investigating several outbreaks including Hantavirus, Ebola, and West Nile virus.

Cost: FREE.

For more information: (202)782-2673 or nmhminfo@afip.osd.mil

 

900,000 and counting

We've broken the 900,000 mark on our Flickr account. Hot dog. That's an average of about 524 views per image. But our most-viewed image?

MIS 66-9275 has 63,345 views

Dec 9: AFIP professional staff conference by Museum curator

The following lecture is presented by the National Museum of Health and Medicine

 

Date/Time:                   09 Dec 09/1100am

 

Location:                     Dart Auditorium

 

Speaker(s):       Franklin Damann

                        Curator

                        National Museum of Health and Medicine     

           

Title:                Human Decomposition Ecology

 

Details:                        The museum Curator discusses recent research exploring the regulation of human decomposition at the University of Tennessee's Anthropology Research Facility. One goal of this research is to assess the potential the microbial community to estimate time since death.

 

 

Department of Medical Education

Armed Forces Institute of Pathology

6825 16th Street, NW

Washington, DC  20306-6000

Ph:     (202) 782-2596

 

 

Jan Herman on History of Naval Medicine in World War 2

Navy Medicine in the Last Campaigns: Iwo Jima and Okinawa

 

The presenter is Jan Herman, M.A.

Historian of the Naval Medical Department

Special Assistant to the Navy Surgeon General

 

http://mediasite.cidde.pitt.edu/mediasite/Viewer/?peid=7b8b1494-f99f-4726-8177-46b28a75bd7f

 

 

Famous brain dissected for study

The brain of Henry Molaison, who could not form memories after his brain surgery, is being dissected – you can read about it in this article - Dissection Begins on Famous Brain, By BENEDICT CAREY, December 3, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/health/research/03brain.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=brain%20memory&st=cse and view it live here - http://thebrainobservatory.ucsd.edu/hm_live.php

We have a very large brain collection in our Neuroanatomical Division.

Harvard's Comparative Zoology Museum

A nice article on the Museum is at http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/HarvardGazette12.03.091.pdf

 

Dec 5: The Art and Science of "OUTBREAK: Plagues that Changed History"

The Art and Science of "OUTBREAK: Plagues that Changed History"
with the artist Bryn Barnard

When: Saturday, December 5, 2009, 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. (Feel free to drop in; no reservations required.)

What: Bryn Barnard, author and artist of "OUTBREAK," will host three exciting programs on Saturday, December 5, 2009, including an illustration workshop and a special session aimed at younger audiences. Free, open to the public, no reservations required. See the schedule below for more details. Questions? Call (202) 782-2673 or email nmhminfo@afip.osd.mil. Schedule: (Come for one program, or stay for the whole day!): 10:00 a.m.: Writing and Illustrating Demonstration: Bryn Barnard will explain how he combined history, science, and art to create “OUTBREAK.” Listen as he reveals how he evolved as an illustrator working on projects as wide-ranging as illustrations for science-fiction paperbacks to working for National Geographic and eventually to writing and illustrating his own non-fiction science history books. Barnard will discuss the writing and illustration process, from researching topics through the important editorial stage, and finally discuss the place of the illustrator in the world of writing. 11:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.: Book Signing (limited quantity of books available for sale in the Museum gift shop) 1:00 p.m.: “OUTBREAK: Plagues That Changed History”—Join Bryn Barnard for a discussion about several diseases represented in his book, including the plague, cholera, tuberculosis, and toxoplasmosis. 2:15 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.: Book Signing and Coffee Break with the Artist 3:00 p.m.: Family Program: Children will enjoy this special presentation on illustrating science books, including a demonstration by the artist! Presentation will be followed by a book signing.

 

 

Dec 9: Lecture at the NMHM: Investigating Emerging Diseases

Lecture at the NMHM: Investigating Emerging Diseases

When: Wednesday, December 9, 2009, 1:00-2:00 p.m.

What: Dr. Michael Turell, a research entomologist with the Virology Division of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute on Infectious Disease, will discuss the institute's role in investigating several outbreaks including Hantavirus, Ebola, and West Nile virus.

Cost: FREE.

For more information: (202)782-2673 or nmhminfo@afip.osd.mil

 

Suraci photo album

We have the Alfred J. Suraci (1911-1993) Collection in the archives, which includes the papers and two photograph albums Dr. Suraci made of his World War 2 patients at Northington General Hospital in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Later Dr. Suraci was the chief of plastic surgery at Providence Hospital, Prince George's Doctor's Hospital, and Sibley Memorial Hospital. Here are scans of the cover of one of the albums and a title page.

 

 

Can we make 1,000,000 Flickr views in 2009?

We're at 898,380 photostream views now. Or 1,149,005 photos and video views. I'm not sure what the difference is, but anyone who wants to help push our Flickr views over 1 million will be appreciated. Since we've figured out how to email pictures to the site, I'm sure there will be more to view.

Painting by Samuel Bookatz in Museum

There's an obituary for Samuel Bookatz in today's Washington Post - in our collection is an oil portrait of Ross T. McIntire, Franklin D. Roosevelt's physician, by Samuel Bookatz (1942).

Now that I'm at home, I can post the pictures.


Bookatz at the Medical Museum in 1990, cleaning up the paperwork on the painting.


A bad snapshot of the painting.

Dec 5: Book illustrator at Medical Museum

 

 

The Art and Science of "OUTBREAK: Plagues that Changed History" with the artist Bryn Barnard

 

When:

 

Saturday, December 5, 2009, 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. (Feel free to drop in; no reservations required.)

 

What:

 

Bryn Barnard, author and artist of "OUTBREAK: Plagues that Changed History," (on exhibit through Jan 22, 2010 at NMHM) will host three exciting programs on Saturday, December 5, 2009, including an illustration workshop and a special session aimed at younger audiences. Free, open to the public, no reservations required.

 

See the schedule online at http://nmhm.washingtondc.museum/events/event_2ed.html for more details. Questions? Call (202) 782-2673 or email nmhminfo@afip.osd.mil.

 

Where:

 

National Museum of Health and Medicine, on the campus at Walter Reed Army Medical Center

6900 Georgia Avenue, NW, Building 54, Washington, D.C. 20307  (Enter at Elder St., NW)

Adults must present photo identification to gain entry to Walter Reed.

 

Contact:

 

(202) 782-2673 or email nmhminfo@afip.osd.mil

 

 

"Forever Forward" patch

I'm going to try this again, this time including the image.

From our researcher Mike Lemish, whose book on military working dogs in Vietnam is due out in January:

 

 

This is the 4” patch that will accompany the book, which should be out by mid-January, at the latest (I hope!):

 ARF!