Letter of the Day: May 13

Fort McPherson, Nebraska
May 13th 1872

George A. Otis
Ass’t Surgeon, U.S. Army,
Curator, Army Medical Museum,
Washington, D.C.

Sir:

Pursuant to your request of the 10th ult. I prepared for transportation to the A.M.M. the specimen in the case of Private James Casey, Comp. “D” 3rd Cavalry, whose left foot was amputated by Syme’s method, but the A.A.Q.M. at this post, being unaware of any authorization in the premises, referred the matter to the Chief Quartermaster of the Department, from whom, as yet, no instructions have been received. Will you, therefore, please inform me by what authority specimens are forwarded to the A.M.M. by the Q.M. Department and whether, in the absence of any such authority or custom in the Q.M. Department, specimens should be forwarded to the A.M.M. by express, at the expense of the Medical Department.

Very Respectfully,
Your Obedient Servant
F.W. Elbrey
Asst. Surgeon U.S. Army

Visibly Human exhibit

Visibly Human exhibit

Visibly Human exhibit

Visibly Human exhibit

Visibly Human exhibit

Visibly Human exhibit

Letter of the Day: May 12

 

Cavalry Depot, Jefferson Barracks, MO

May 12, 1880

 

To the Surgeon General, U.S. Army

Washington, D.C.

 

General,

 

I have the honor to report that I have forwarded to your office, in a box containing “Hospital Records” a tin can, containing a specimen of ulcerated rectum, inverted. A full history of the case to which the specimen relates, will be found in the Report of Sick and Wounded of this Depot for the month of April 1880.

 

Very Respectfully,

Your Obdt Servt

Edward P Vollum

Major and Surgeon, US Army

 

Blacksmith Herman Schunke – E – 6^th Cavalry

Medical Section A.M.M.

New Exhibit at NMHM: "Wounded in Action: An Art Exhibition of Orthopaedic Advancements" through Veterans Day

 

 

NEW EXHIBIT! "Wounded in Action: An Art Exhibition of Orthopaedic Advancements" Now through Veterans Day 2010
Home from the War by Joseph Pearson	“Wounded in Action,” an exhibit of art works inspired by experiences with the wounds of war, opened at NMHM on May 7. This is the first major national installation for “Wounded in Action.”   The exhibit is in two parts: approximately half of the installation is here at NMHM while the rest is installed at the University of Maryland Baltimore Health Sciences/Human Services Library and Southern Management Corporation Campus Center.   "Wounded in Action" is produced and organized by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
Read the NMHM news release: http://nmhm.washingtondc.museum/news/wounded_in_action.html	Learn more about “Wounded in Action” online at http://www.woundedinactionart.org/

 

Letter of the day, May 11

[Numbered correspondence 2240]

I like the font they use for their products:

May 11, 1897.

Messrs J.B. Colt & Co.
115 & 117 Nassau St.
New York, N.Y.

Gentlemen:

Your letter of the 8th instant and the box containing the transparency were received yesterday. I have examined the metallic frame, but I prefer the wooden frame shown by your agent, and which I consider more suitable for our purpose. Before sending the transparencies, you will please have them carefully examined to see that they are in perfect condition. I notice that on the transparency received yesterday and which I have this day returned to your address by Adams Express, are a number of defects or blemishes; the pictures will be exhibited in the Museum hall and will be seen by many visitors and closely scrutinized, and it is therefore necessary that I should have them in the best possible condition.

Very respectfully,
D.L. Huntington
Deputy Surgeon General, U.S. Army,
In charge of Museum and Library Division

The letter above was in response to this one:

James B. Colt. Charles Goodyear.
J.B. Colt & Co.
Manufacturers of
Self Focusing Arc Electric Lamps, Projection Lanterns, Lantern Slides
and specialties
P.O. Box 2773.
115 & 117 Nassau Street, New York, New York.

May 8th, 1897.

Dr. D. L. Huntington,
Surgeon General's Office,
War Department, Washington, D.C.

Dear Sir:
We express you to-day one of the transparencies mounted in a metallic frame, which we think is to be preferred to the wooden frames our representative showed you when in Washington. These frames cost considerable more apiece than the wooden ones, but as they will be on permanent exhibition in the Medical Museum, we think we are justified in going to this extra outlay, as the attention of people who are interested in them will be called to the complete manner in which they are protected by these metallic trimmings. We wish, of course, to submit the sample to you before we send on the complete order, which will be about week after next.
Of course, there will be no additional charge to you for the frames, as we assume this extra expense ourselves.

Trusting to hear from you at your early convenience, we are,

Yours respectfully,
J.B. Colt & Co.,
R.C.D.

May 11, 1897, transparency returned

Letter of the Day: May 10

Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, May 10, 1875

Dr. George A Otis,
Army Med. Mus.

Dear Sir:

We have the pleasure of acknowledging the receipt of the Indian scalp referred to in your letter of the 4th of May. This will be placed in the Ethnological Museum of the Institution in connection with other objects of a similar character.

Truly yours etc
Joseph Henry
Sect. S.I.

This is in reference to these two letters:

May 4, 1875

General-

I am instructed by the Surgeon General to acknowledge the reception, through your headquarters, of a communication from the Seminole Negro Scout “Avann (?) his + mark Parino,” transmitting an Indian scalp and also a ferrotype picture of the scalper. These specimens have been numbered 703-704 Sect VI, (Miscellaneous Section) of the Army Medical Museum for transfer to the ethnological cabinet of the Smithsonian Institution.

I am, General, very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
George A. Otis,
Asst. Surgeon, USA
Curator, A.M.M.

August, USA, Brig. General C.C.
Commanding Dept of Texas
San Antonio, TX

~~
May 4, 1875

Professor –

I have the honor to transmit for the ethnological cabinet of the Smithsonian Institution, in accordance with the arrangement between the two Museums, an Indian scalp with a ferrotype of the scalper, received by the Surgeon General with the letter copied on a succeeding page.

I am, Professor,
With the highest respects,
Your obedient servant,
George A. Otis
Asst. Surgeon, USA
Curator, A.M.M.

Henry, Professor Joseph
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, DC

Letter of the day, May 9

From our Otken Collection of correspondence. Dr. Otken was a surgeon with the American Expeditionary Forces in World War 1.

U.S. Army Base Hospital No. 22
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Friday, May 9th [1918]

Dearest Mother:
Your letter & the girls' came yesterday, glad to hear from you of course.

Sent the girls some post cards today & a picture I had made to Sister.

Has rained up here the last few days & has been real cool again. Had a letter from Charlie yesterday, sorry I can't go by Washington and see him. Got my commission all right & sent it on to Frances to put with my other papers.

Find this a nice lot of men, majority of them are Masons & everything is very congenial. Had a nice letter from Dr. Lee this morning, I wrote him shortly after I got here.

Sunday one of the Doctors carried me up to his summer home on a little lake about thirty miles north of here. There were six Drs. & their wives out there, all belong to the Base, We went up in auto's [sic]. Had a nice ride and a great dinner then drove back in the evening. It is a beautiful country, lots of small lakes - say a mile or two long and one half to one mile wide. The rich people from here have their summer homes along the shores & it certainly is beautiful.

Twelve of us had to act as pall bearers in a military funeral Monday for Lt. Col. Daum[?], an aviator killed in a fall at Dayton, Ohio.

We are all impatiently awaiting orders to leave here - we expect them before the week is out. Oh, yes, about that wool helmet. All those things [were?] given me when I got here - furnished by the Red Cross, helmet, muffler, gloves, socks, toilet kit etc. so if you have made that one, send it to Charlie he probably hasn't one.

Miss Hodges wrote that a new major had arrived to take Major Crawford's place but Maj. Crawford hasn't been ordered away as yet.

I see where a lot of drafted men are going to Shelby - so they will have lots of work at the Hospital there now.

Col. Baylis wired me congratulations when my commission came, so I wrote & thanked him a few days ago.

Sister wanted to know if [I] was on the surgical service - yes. There will be [illegible] men on the medical service over there, as practically all the cases are surgical.

Much love to all at home.
Luther

Letter of the Day: May 8

U.S. Army Post Hospital,
Fort Union, N.M., May 8th 1879


To the Surgeon U.S.A.
Washington, D.C.

Sir,

I have the honor to inform you that I have this day turned over to the Post Quartermaster at this post, one box containing the heart of Leander A. Case, late Corporal of Co. “F” 15 Infantry, who died at this hospital April 14th 1879 of paralysis of heart. For history of this case see 3rd page of monthly reports of sick and wounded for April 1879.

Enclosed please find Quartermasters receipt for the box.

Very respectfully,
Your obt. Servt.
Carlos Carvallo
Asst. Surgeon U.S.A.
Post Surgeon

Letter of the day, May 7

Shown is the list of medals sent for consideration.

Ed. Frossard,
Coins, Stamps, etc.
787 & 789 Broadway, N.Y.
Collections quickly catalogued
At Special Rates.

May 7, 1890

My dear Sir,

In reply to your favor of yesterday inquiring about medical tokens, etc, I beg state that it was designed not to separate the lot of Famine tokens, but in view of the fact that several are slight varieties of each other & that you do not wish to accumulate duplicates, I have decided to allow you to make the 23 selections (A.M.M. Nos. 1172-1194 Misc. Sect.) desired from lot of 44 and to return the others with balance Medical medals not selected from this lot.

Thanking you for promptness in making selection,

I am Sir Very respectfully Yrs
Ed Frossard

Dr. J.S. Billings

Newly-scanned accession record

Many of the accession records we're scanning are text documents only, but the third one I looked at this morning while doing the dreaded quality review held the image below. The record states only this:

Fetus, third trimester. Unable to determine what specimen demonstrates. [Upon request, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology could not provide any corresponding documentation for this case.]

Letter of the day, May 6

You can't judge a book by its cover.

[#]641
Charges against watchmen in S.G.O.

War Department,
Surgeon General's Office,
Washington, May 6, 1895

Lieut.Colonel J.S. Billings,
Deputy Surgeon General, U.S. Army,
In charge of Museum and Library Division,
Surgeon General's Office, Washington, D.C.

Sir:-

A respectable looking German woman called upon me this morning and stated that she is the wife of Frederick Neujahr, a Watchman at the Army Medical Museum. She complains that her husband neglects to give her any portion of his pay and treats her badly; that he spends his money in dissipation, and that he brings alcohol from the Army Medical Museum to drink at home. She also charges that William McCoy, a Watchman at the Museum, is a drunkard, and that he and Neujahr spend their money at Ruppert's Saloon.

You will please investigate as to the truth of these charges, and if the men referred to are improper persons to be employed in the responsible position of Watchman, they should be discharged.

Very respectfully,
Geo. M. Sternberg
Surgeon General,
U.S. Army


The first follow-up letter:

Army Medical Museum
May 7, 1895

In the matter of complaint against the night watchmen Wm McCoy and Fred. Neujahr I have the honor to report that for the past eight months while I have been on duty as Superintendent of the Museum and Library Building I have known them both as careful and efficient watchmen. Both are punctual in their attendance and I have never seen either of them under the slightest influence of liquor. The woman who lodged the complaint against Mr Neujahr, and who pretends to be his wife, tried to gain admittance to the building at night and was refused by Mr McCoy. She then threatened that she would report him for drunkenness. She called again this morning in company with a man, both being very much under the influence of liquor, and I considered it my duty to request them to leave the building and to tell them that should they persist in their endeavor to gain admittance in their present condition, I should have them arrested.

(sgd) Michael Flynn


The second follow-up:

S.G.O.
Mus and Lib Bldg
May 8, 1895

Sent Col. J.S. Billings

Sir

I enclose the report of Mr Flynn, the superintendent in the matter of complaint against watchmen McCoy and Neujahr. Both have been on duty in this office for over 20 years and no complaint has ever reached me as to drunkenness on the part of either. Mr. Neujahr denies the charge of having taken alcohol. The bulk of this article is kept locked in the store-room, which is not accessible to Mr Neujahr, and on inquiries in the laboratories of Drs Gray and Hodge, where generally a small quantity is kept for immediate use, I learn that they have not missed any. I am informed that the complaining woman has frequently figured in the Police court.

Very Resp.
CJM

Letter of the Day: May 6 - CSI Medical Museum part 4

He did it!

Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 1463

May 6, 1896

Major W.G. Moore,
Superintendent Metropolitan Police,
Washington, D.C.

Dear Sir:

I beg to return herewith, per Messenger, the package which you left this morning for examination, and to report that in addition to the larger stain on the front of the garment I have been able to find two other stains, both of which gave, under the microscope, blood corpuscles resembling in many respects human blood corpuscles.

Very respectfully,

Walter Reed
Surgeon, U.S. Army
Curator

Aaos reception

Aaos opening reception Russell senate bldg

Letter of the Day: May 5 - CSI Medical Museum, part 3

This isn't the end of the story! Check back tomorrow!
Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 1457

Headquarters of the Metropolitan Police,
District of Columbia,
Washington, May 5th 1896

Dr. Walter Reed,
Surgeon, U.S.A.,
Curator U.S. Army Medical Museum and Library,
Washington, D.C.

Dear Sir:-

I beg to make my grateful acknowledgements for your prompt compliance with my request of May 3rd, and to assure you that you will find me willing and ready to serve you whenever it may be in my power to do so.

Very respectfully & obediently yours,
W.G. Moore
Major & Sup’t. Met. Police