Monday, January 23, 2017

Inside Cleveland's fascinating Dittrick Medical Museum. "Traditionally, the Dittrick had been a museum for doctors," said Edmonson. "But when we ...

Thursday, August 11, 2016

Aug 20: Stanley Burns speaks at new Gettysburg PA medical museum

From: Stanley Burns

I will be giving the inaugural address at the opening of a new Civil War medical museum in Gettysburg, at the The Daniel Lady Farm. The farm and Barn was a Confederate staging area during the battle and now will be dedicated as part a new medical museum. I will be lecturing and also supervising an amputation. There will be re-enactors for various events.

The Daniel Lady farm on July 2, 1863 served as a staging area for Major General Edward Johnson's divisions of Confederate regiments for the attack on the Union Flank at Culps Hill. The farm was converted to a field hospital by July 3rd for seriously wounded Confederates who were then left at the hospital as the Confederates retreated south after the battle.

I will be lecturing on the amazing medical photographs of wounded soldiers taken by Dr Reed Brockway Bontecou, Surgeon-In-Charge of Harewood US Army General Hospital Washington DC, as well as my work as the on set medical consultant to PBS's Civil War drama, Mercy Street.

http://www.destinationgettysburg.com/event/details/10562

http://www.gbpa.org/Daniel-Lady-Farm.html

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

National Museum of Civil War Medicine criticized for logo

D.C. tourism guide rejects Frederick museum's ad containing Confederate Flag

By Jeff Abell
July 22nd 2016
http://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/ad-doesnt-fly-in-dc

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

A somewhat skewed article on the Army Medical Museum

Four More Heads for the Indian Trophy Room

Robert Aquinas McNally

6/15/16

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

June 22: NLM James H. Cassedy History of Medicine Lecture

Dear Colleagues,

You are cordially invited to the next NLM History of Medicine lecture, to be held on Wednesday, June 22, from 2 pm to 3pm in the NLM Lister Hill Auditorium, Building 38A, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD. For this year's James H. Cassedy Memorial Lecture, W. Bruce Fye, MD, MA, Emeritus Professor of Medicine and the History of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, will speak on "The Origins and Evolution of the Mayo Clinic from 1864 to 1939: A Minnesota Family Practice Becomes an International 'Medical Mecca'"

This presentation will describe the origins and international impact of the Mayo Clinic through 1939, the year that William J. and Charles H. Mayo died. Multispecialty group practice was invented at Mayo at the beginning of the twentieth century. A visiting Canadian surgeon wrote in 1906, "Specialization and cooperation, with the best that can be had in each department, is here the motto. Cannot these principles be tried elsewhere?" Dr. Fye will address the Mayo Clinic's major (and underappreciated) role in the development of rigorous postgraduate (specialty) training. Unlike traditional academic medical centers that emphasize research, Mayo's main mission has always been patient care. This patient-centered activity has been undertaken in an environment enriched by extensive programs devoted to specialty training and clinical research. The clinic's long-standing culture of collaboration is cited as one of the key ingredients of its success.

This lecture will be live-streamed globally, and subsequently archived, by NIH VideoCasting:

http://videocast.nih.gov/

All are welcome.

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

In addition, we warmly welcome you to visit our blog, "Circulating Now," where you can learn more about the collections and related programs of the History of Medicine Division of the NLM:

http://circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov/

Here also you can read interviews with previous lecturers:

http://circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov/tag/lecture/

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

Friday, June 10, 2016

Job opening at NMHM

Medical Museum Job announcement:
There is a rare opening at the National Museum of Health and Medicine (NMHM) for someone with the right combination of skills (osteology, anatomy, museum collections management.) Application period closes June 22.

MUSEUM SPECIALIST (ANATOMICAL)

Defense Health Agency

https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/441147300/

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Mountain Meadows Massacre skull subject to Congressional scrutiny at NMHM

In Senate, Arkansans request new life for a child's burial

Boozman: Get skull out of museum

By Frank Lockwood

http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2016/jun/07/in-senate-new-life-for-a-child-s-burial/

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Ebenstein on her new wax Venuses book

The Strangest Book of 2016 is 'The Anatomical Venus'

By Joanna Ebenstein

May 20, 2016
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/70413-the-strange-beauty-of-the-anatomical-venus.html

Monday, May 16, 2016

Edinburgh University's Anatomical Museum has an app

Grisly medical museum opens to virtual world for first time

STV May 16 2016

The Macabre artefacts from Scotland's medical history will be virtually on show for the first time.

http://stv.tv/news/east-central/1354232-grisly-medical-museum-opens-to-virtual-world-for-first-time/

Thursday, May 5, 2016

The 2016 Spurgeon Neel Award open for submissions

The Army Medical Department Museum Foundation is pleased to announce the 2016 Spurgeon Neel Annual Award competition for a paper of 5,000 words or less that best exemplifies the history, legacy, and traditions of the Army Medical Department.

Named in honor of Major General (Retired) Spurgeon H. Neel, first Commanding General of Health Services Command (now U.S. Army Medical Command), the award competition is open to all federal employees, military and civilian, as well as nongovernmental civilian authors. More information about MG (Ret) Neel can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spurgeon_Neel.

The AMEDD Museum Foundation will present a special medallion award and a $500 monetary prize to the winner at a Foundation-sponsored event early in 2017. The winning submission will be published in the AMEDD Journal during 2017.

All manuscripts must be submitted to the AMEDD Museum Foundation by September 30, 2016. At the time of submission, a manuscript must be original work and not pending publication in any other periodical. It must conform to the Writing and Submission Guidance of the AMEDD Journal, and must relate to the history, legacy, and/or traditions of the Army Medical Department. Manuscripts will be reviewed and evaluated by a six-member board with representatives from the AMEDD Museum Foundation, the AMEDD Center of History and Heritage, and the AMEDD Journal. The winning manuscript will be selected and announced in December 2016.

Submit manuscripts to amedd.foundation@att.net. Additional details concerning the Spurgeon Neel Annual Award may be obtained by contacting Mrs. Sue McMasters at the AMEDD Museum Foundation, 210-226-0265.

Friday, April 8, 2016

An article about exhibiting human bodies

Reconsidering Body Worlds: why do we still flock to exhibits of dead human beings?

The Conversation US

... located along the National Mall, exhibited human remains between 1887 and the 1960s (living on as the National Museum of Health and Medicine).

http://theconversation.com/reconsidering-body-worlds-why-do-we-still-flock-to-exhibits-of-dead-human-beings-57024

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Archivist and curator jobs open at NMHM

https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/432006800/
Job Title:  ARCHIVIST
Department:  Department of Defense
Agency:  Defense Health Agency

Job Announcement Number: NW61420-12-1647011K3344639D

SALARY RANGE:

$77,490.00 to $100,736.00 / Per Year

OPEN PERIOD:

Wednesday, March 9, 2016 to Tuesday, March 15, 2016

SERIES & GRADE:

GS-1420-12

POSITION INFORMATION:

Full Time - Permanent

PROMOTION POTENTIAL:

DUTY LOCATIONS:

1 vacancy in the following location:
Silver Spring, MD View Map

https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/431610700/

Job Title:  STAFF CURATOR (COLLECTIONS)
Department:  Department of Defense
Agency:  Defense Health Agency
Hiring Organization:  DEFENSE HEALTH AGENCY

Job Announcement Number: NW61015-14-1644127K3339517D

SALARY RANGE:

$108,887.00 to $141,555.00 / Per Year

OPEN PERIOD:

Friday, March 4, 2016 to Friday, March 11, 2016

SERIES & GRADE:

GS-1015-14

POSITION INFORMATION:

Full Time - Permanent

PROMOTION POTENTIAL:

DUTY LOCATIONS:

1 vacancy in the following location:
Silver Spring, MD View Map

WHO MAY APPLY:

United States Citizens

SECURITY CLEARANCE:

Not Applicable

SUPERVISORY STATUS:

Yes

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

St. Elizabeths brains at NMHM

St. Elizabeths Stories: How The World's Most Notorious Lobotomist Got His Start In DC

DCist.com
http://dcist.com/2016/03/walter_freeman_lobotomy_st_elizabet.php

Hundreds of the brains he autopsied are preserved to this day at the National Museum of Health and Medicine. But Freeman approached the end of ...

Monday, March 7, 2016

New book on museums and human remains out

How Many Human Skeletons Are in US Museums?

History News Network (HNN)
http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/161946

In 1879, when a letter arrived at the Army Medical Museum attached to a box containing a human skull, curators likely read with great interest the ...

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

The Grog, A Journal of Navy Medical History and Culture--Issue 44

It is with great pleasure that we offer you the latest ration of The Grog, A Journal of Navy Medical History and Culture. In this edition we look back at the Navy's fight against tuberculosis in the decades before antibiotics. Partly inspired by the work of a tubercular physician in the Adirondacks and a new method of treatment he popularized, in 1906 the Navy established a
special hospital in a landlocked state that served only tubercular Sailors and Marines. In our cover story we revisit this vanguard institution and look at the innovative methods for treating the so-called "incurables." We follow this story with an eclectic line-up of articles including our latest installment of our "year in review" series, as well as first-hand accounts of independent hospital corps duty in the South Pole and the curious, but true tale of how a Navy physician used a sigmoidoscope to save (USS) America.

As always, we hope you enjoy this tour of the high seas of Navy Medicine's past!

The Grog is accessible through the link below. PDF versions are available upon request. Those currently on the PDF Mailing list will receive a separate e-mail.

http://issuu.com/thegrogration/docs/the_grog__issue_44

Very Respectfully,

André B. Sobocinski
Historian
Communications Directorate (M09B7)
Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED)
Tel: (703) 681-2473
Email: andre.b.sobocinski.civ@mail.mil

Got Navy Medical History?
http://www.med.navy.mil/bumed/nmhistory/

Friday, February 19, 2016

New Orleans' Pharmacy Museum profiled

Opium-soaked tampons, voodoo elixirs and leeches: welcome to New Orleans' Pharmacy Museum

Located in the townhouse of the US's first licensed pharmacist, this lively, macabre, cringe-inducing museum provides a refreshing re-contextualization of its many artifacts and an unflinching encounter with our mortality

Susan Harlan

Friday 16 January 2015
http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2015/jan/16/new-orleans-pharmacy-museum-opium-soaked-tampons-voodoo-elixirs

Coyle collection uploaded to Medical Heritage Library

The collection consists of a mug, photographs, and papers from Zelma "Suzie" Coyle, who served as a nurse on the USS Haven (AH-12) hospital ship during the Korean War.

Scanned and online here are instructions to medical officers upon joining the Haven, her letters home to her mother and her photographs.

72 items are available at this link - https://archive.org/details/SCN0024

Unfortunately the link was autogenerated, so doesn't make much sense in as a human term.

Only part of the collection was digitized and uploaded. Coyle's service record and her annotated copy of the Haven's cruise book have not been scanned. The originals of her letters remain with her family and BUMED was provided with digital copies.

Who are we?

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

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

So what about that blog name?

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

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

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