An unofficial blog about the National Museum of Health and Medicine (nee the Army Medical Museum) in Silver Spring, MD. Visit for news about the museum, new projects, musing on the history of medicine and neat pictures.
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Sept 2: NLM History of Medicine Lecture
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Pictures from NMHM's Medical Heritage Library submissions are now on Flickr
Monday, August 18, 2014
Two Army Medical Museum letters from J.J. Woodward
Dr. Joseph Woodward writes to Dr. Bowditch expressing his opinion on the use of the medical museum in determining the causes of disease. He also expresses appreciation for the Surgeon General's Library. Original in National Museum of Health and Medicine's OHA 28: Curatorial Records: Woodward Letterbooks.
Dr. Joseph Woodward writes to Joseph Henry of the Smithsonian Institution asking for books on animals for the Museum's comparative anatomy collection with the books to be added to the Surgeon General's Library. Original in National Museum of Health and Medicine's OHA 28: Curatorial Records: Woodward Letterbooks.
Friday, August 15, 2014
Johns Hopkins considering a history of medicine certificate
from Christine Ruggere, Associate Director, Institute of the History of Medicine & Curator, Historical Collection at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine:
The Department of the History of Medicine of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine is currently developing a set of online courses in the history of medicine in order to provide greater access to the study of that subject. Mapped out over time, the courses will also be part of a larger project creating an online certificate program and an online Masters' degree in the history of medicine. One of our main goals is to provide graduate-level teaching in the field to interested health care students/professionals and others who are otherwise unable to take a year or two away from their work to pursue a degree in person or who wish to take just a few courses at their own convenience. In order to have our degree programs certified by the state of Maryland, we are required to submit results from a survey indicating any interest in these programs. It is a very short, quick survey: http://www.johnshopkinssurveys.com/se.ashx?s=705E3F16491130AA.
Friday, July 25, 2014
Medical waste dump reported near National Museum of Health and Medicine
Army floats compromise on medical waste area The area also is near the U.S. National Museum of Health and Medicine. The latest proposal involves installing about 2,450 feet of chain-link fencing ... |
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Thai medical museum in the news
'Dark tourism' creeps out Thailand Originally established as a teaching venue for the school's medical students, Siriraj Medical Museum today is increasingly better known as a tourist ... | ||||
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Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Dale Smith of USUHS interviewed on NLM site
The Anatomy Acts and the Social Contract
by Circulating Nowhttp://circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov/2014/07/15/the-anatomy-acts-and-the-social-contract/
Dr. Dale Smith spoke today at the National Library of Medicine on "Anatomy Acts and the Shaping of the American Medical Profession's Social Contract." Dr. Smith is a Professor at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Department of Military and Emergency Medicine. Circulating Now interviewed him about his work.
Monday, July 14, 2014
The Grog, A Journal of Navy Medical History and Culture (Issue 40)
Grog, a Journal of Navy Medical History and Culture. In this edition, we
offer you original stories about: Navy Medicine's forgotten hero of the
Second Battle of Fort Fisher; a Navy nurse who was awarded the prestigious
St. Anne Medal in 1919; Navy's World War II hospital on the Emerald Isle;
Navy Medicine's role with the Marine Corps in World War I; a medical
entomologist's tale of hope after suffering great loss; and a Navy
physiologist-turned dentist's incredible mission to locate a missing
aircraft with the aid of a Deep Submersible Vehicle. We bolster this
literary line-up with the usual assortment of historical sidebars, trivia as
well as a book review by our own Col. Ginn.
The Grog is accessible through the links below.
http://issuu.com/thegrogration/docs/the_grog__issue_40__2014
https://archive.org/details/TheGrogIssue402014
As always we hope you enjoy this tour on the high seas of Navy Medicine's past!
André B. Sobocinski
Historian
Communications Directorate (M09B7)
Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED)
19th century publication on teeth in the Army Medical Museum
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
July 15: NLM History of Medicine Lecture
Thursday, July 3, 2014
My Visit to The National Museum of Health and Medicine article
My Visit to The National Museum of Health and Medicine The National Museum of Health and Medicine is housed in its new facility in Silver Springs, Maryland. Originally located in the former Walter Reed ... |
Friday, June 27, 2014
New World War 1 resource online
Burns Archive and new Morbid Anatomy Museum featured in NY Times
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
NLM Planning Blog launches
The U.S. National Library of Medicine will soon be initiating development of its next long-range plan and, in so doing, welcomes public feedback through its recently-launched "Voyaging to the Future" blog, located at:
http://nlmvoyagingtothefuture.org/
Thank you for your feedback, and for sharing this information with interested colleagues and friends.
Sincerely,
Steve Greenberg
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
Bethesda, MD
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Southern California Medical Museum moves to Pomona
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Southern California Medical Museum moves to Pomona A 1740 microscope will be among the display at the Southern California Medical Museum in Pomona. Jennifer Cappuccio Maher — Staff ...
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Monday, June 9, 2014
Burns Archive in New York Magazine 6/9/14
New York Magazine:
http://nymag.com/health/bestdoctors/2014/cutting-edge-medicine-2014-6/
All 6 "Navy Medicine at War" World War II films are online
Navy Medicine at War: Trial by Fire (2010 version)
This installment recounts the "day that will live in infamy" through the stories of Navy medical personnel who witnessed the tragic events at Pearl Harbor.
Navy Medicine at War: Guests Of The Emperor
Pearl Harbor was just the beginning of a Japanese rampage throughout the Pacific. With nothing to stop their expanding empire, the enemy rolled through the Pacific conquering at will. This installment of the film series tells the tragic story of those who fought to defend Guam, Bataan, and Corregidor against the Japanese invasion. Their heroism throughout the following years in brutal captivity, under extremely trying conditions exemplifies the enduring values of Navy Medicine.
Navy Medicine at War: Battle Station Sick Bay
After the battle of Midway, even though the pendulum had swung in favor of the United States, final victory was many campaigns and many, many lives away. Throughout the next three years, Navy medicine would accompany the carriers, battleships, cruisers, destroyers, submarines, and thousands of other vessels on the long bloody road to Tokyo. As crewman aboard these ships, physicians, dentists, and hospital corpsmen would man battle stations and sick bays during the battle—and the lulls in between. And they would do what Navy medical personnel had always done—treating torn, burned, and bleeding bodies, and returning men to duty.
Navy Medicine at War: Navy Medicine At Normandy, D-Day June 6, 1944
Although less well known, Navy medicine made important contributions in the Atlantic, most notably in the Normandy campaign. The physicians and hospital corpsmen of the 6th Naval Beach Battalion are highlighted in this installment.
Navy Medicine at War: Stepping Stones To Tokyo
The fifth installment in the six-part Navy Medicine at War film series chronicles the Navy medical experience with the Marine Corps' island-hopping campaign during the first three years of the war.
Navy Medicine at War: Final Victory
"Final Victory" is the last installment of the six-part World War II film series, "Navy Medicine at War." The film tells the story of the war's final campaign and aftermath - the bloody fight to take Okinawa, the dress rehearsal for the invasion of the Japanese home islands, the dropping of the two atomic bombs, Japan's surrender, and the liberation of the prisoners of war.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
British mental health museum reopens
Mental Health Museum reopens asylum collection at NHS home in Wakefield
http://www.culture24.org.uk//science-and-nature/medicine/art482053-Mental-Health-Museum-reopens-asylum-collection-NHS-home-Wakefield
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Clyster found in maritime archeology
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Urethral syringe used in 19th century venereal treatment declared best archaeological find Alan Humphries, the Librarian of the Thackray Medical Museum in Leeds, identified this as a urethral syringe used to treat ailments in men by injecting ...
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Monday, May 19, 2014
BUMED's historians upload 2000th item to Medical Heritage Library
After slightly more than a year of uploading material to the Medical
Heritage Library, the US Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery's 2000th
item appeared online today. "A Series of Reports to the Nursing Division
of the activities of the Nurse Corps Officers serving aboard the U.S.
Naval Hospital in the Repose"* is now easily available for research. The
reports from CDRs Angelica Vitillo and M.T. Kovacevich back to Captain
Ruth Erickson, Director of the Navy Nurse Corps, and her successor CAPT
Veronica Bulshefski date from 8 November 1965 to 2 December 1966. They
are in turns informative, chatty and sad.
"Our first direct casualty which arrived Saturday, the nineteenth, was
a nineteen year old bilateral mid-thigh amputee who to date has received
over 45 pints of blood." (28 February 1966)
"The improvements we have initiated in our individual staterooms have
contributed to maintaining a high state of moral among the nurses, One
of the base shops at Hunters Point allowed us to misappropriate an
assortment of very colorful and feminine looking bedspreads for our
rooms." (13 December 1965)
"Death claimed the life of a very young man who had extensive chest
wounds on Monday, the seventh and a thirty three year old arm amputee
with other extensive wounds on Tuesday the eighth. Some of our young
nurses are feeling these losses acutely." (9 March 1966)
These letters join a soon-to-be complete set of over 1000 issues of 70
years of Navy Medicine magazine**; oral histories with veterans of World
War 2, Korea and Vietnam;*** a growing collection of audiovisuals
including one on the Navy's humanitarian efforts after the Vietnam
War****; and many other items.
*
https://archive.org/details/USSReposeSeriesOfReportsToTheNursingDivisionOfTheActivitiesOfTheNurseCorpsOffice
**
https://archive.org/search.php?query=collection%3Ausnavybumedhistoryoffi
ce%20AND%20subject%3A%22Navy%20Medicine%20magazine&sort=-publicdate
***
https://archive.org/search.php?query=collection%3Ausnavybumedhistoryoffi
ce%20oral%20history&sort=-publicdate
**** https://archive.org/details/THELUCKYFEWWMV91280x72016x9
A small selection of our photographs may be found on Flickr at
https://www.flickr.com/photos/navymedicine/
Michael Rhode
Archivist / Curator
US Navy BUMED Office of Medical History
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
ALHHS Publication award goes to NMHM archivist Eric Boyle
ALHHS awards for 2014. Winners were recognized at the annual ALHHS
business meeting, held on May 8, 2014 at the American College of
Surgeons in Chicago, IL.
The ALHHS Publication award went to Eric W. Boyle for his book, Quack
Medicine: A History of Combating Health Fraud in Twentieth-Century
America (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2013). Throughout the 20th
century, anti-quackery crusaders investigated, exposed, and attempted
to regulate allegedly fraudulent therapeutic approaches to health and
healing under the banner of consumer protection and a commitment to
medical science. Boyle's book reveals how efforts to establish an
exact border between quackery and legitimate therapeutic practices and
medications have largely failed, and details the reasons for this
failure.
The AlHHS Online Resource award went to the Waring Historical Library
Curator Susan Hoffius and Digital Archivist Jennifer Welch for their
on-line exhibit of the Porcher Medicinal Garden. The website and its
corresponding physical-location garden serve to increase public
awareness of the holdings of the Earing Historical Library and,
specifically the collection of Dr. F. Peyre Porcher.
The ALHHS Merit Award was given to Dr. and Mrs. Adam G.N. Moore for
their support of the collections of the Center for the History of
Family Medicine (CHFM). In 2012, the Moores donated more than 600
items including rare books, pamphlets, periodicals, and ephemera from
their personal library to create the new Adam G.N. Moore, MD,
collection in the History of Family Medicine at the CHFM.
Please join us in congratulating our award recipients for their
outstanding work.
- The 2014 ALHHS Awards Committee (Eric Luft, Rachel Howell,
and Judith Wiener, chair)
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 ... | ||||||
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Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Indiana Historical Medical Museum theft
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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
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
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
NMHM's embryology collection in Bull. of History of Medicine
From: Bulletin of the History of Medicine
Volume 88, Number 1, Spring 2014
pp. 132-160 | 10.1353/bhm.2014.0002
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
Last 'Radium Girl' dead?
Mae Keane, Whose Job Brought Radium to Her Lips, Dies at 107
By WILLIAM YARDLEY
Mrs. Keane, one of the so-called radium girls, was employed at the Waterbury Clock Company in the 1920s when a relatively new material, radium, was used.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Heard embryology models at Medical Museum
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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.
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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 ...
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Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Dr Damann speaks to students about forensic anthropology
Scientists share experiences with students to encourage interest in ... Franklin Damann, forensic anthropologist at the National Museum of Health and Medicine, Silver Spring, spoke to students at Rockville High School ... | |
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
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Caricature at the Wellcome Library is online
Artists' Caricatures Show The Macabre History Of Medicine
The Huffington Post | By Sara GatesPosted: 01/22/2014http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/22/history-of-medicine-photos-wellcome-images_n_4645670.html
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Mutter Museum's Civil War exhibit
Stark Reminders of How Uncivil a War It Was
'Broken Bodies, Suffering Spirits' at the Mütter Museum
By DENISE GRADYJAN. 20, 2014
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Indiana Medical History Museum profiled after brain thefts
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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 ...
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Friday, January 17, 2014
National Library of Medicine's World War I digitization
Newly found dissection photo
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 ... |
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Mutter Museum specimen used to track cholera dna
With Help of Victims From 1849, Scientists Decode Early Strain of Cholera
JAN. 8, 2014
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
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
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
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 ...
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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.
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.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Nov 19: NLM History of Medicine Lecture features Smithsonian
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>
Thursday, November 7, 2013
The Nazi Anatomists article on Slate
The Nazi Anatomists
How the corpses of Hitler's victims are still haunting modern science—and American abortion politics.
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/history/2013/11/nazi_anatomy_history_the_origins_of_conservatives_anti_abortion_claims_that.html