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Monday, October 2, 2017

Australia want's skull in Mutter Museum repatriated

Australia seeks soldier's skull held at Philadelphia's Mutter Museum
This July 12, 1999, file photo shows a portion of the two floors of the Mutter Museum, a medical museum in Philadelphia. Australian politician Lynda ...

Friday, September 8, 2017

Minor Civil War medical museums article in the Washington Post

A triage trail reveals the breakthroughs — and horrors — of Civil War medicine
My interest was piqued years ago during a visit to the National Museum of Health and Medicine, which is full of Civil War-era artifacts such as Union ...

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

July 13: New National Library of Medicine history book premiere

You are cordially invited to a public symposium to mark the recent publication of Images of America: US National Library of Medicine, and the simultaneous availability via NLM Digital Collections of the complete book at:

 https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/ImagesofAmericaNLM

 and original versions of the 170+ images which appear in the book in black and white:

 https://go.usa.gov/xNfnw

 Learn more about this new, publicly-available publication here:

 https://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/illustrated-history-nlm-published-2017.html

 The symposium will be a part of the NLM History of Medicine Lecture Series and will take place this Thursday, July 13, 2016, from 2:30pm to 4pm in Lipsett Amphitheater on the first floor of the NIH Clinical Center, Building 10, on the NIH Campus in Bethesda, MD. PLEASE NOTE THE SPECIAL TIME AND VENUE.

 If you cannot join us onsite, you can watch the proceedings via NIH Videocasting: https://videocast.nih.gov/. You can also participate in the proceedings via Twitter by following #NLMHistTalk.

 Sign language interpretation is provided. Individuals with disabilities who need reasonable accommodation to participate may contact Stephen J. Greenberg  at 301-827-4577, or by email at stephen.greenberg@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

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Gallaudet University's aviation medicine exhibit


Deaf Difference + Space Survival Exhibit is an excellent exhibit on the use of deaf men with no sense of balance to experiment on how they and the Mercury 7 astronauts would deal with weightlessness and centrifugal forces. If you're around Washington, DC, it's well worth seeing. An account of the experiments is here - https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/how-being-deaf-made-difference-space-research

My photographs of a tour with historian Jean Bergey and original volunteer Harry Larson (and Navy Medicine historian Andre Sobocinski) can be seen here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/42072348@N00/albums/72157684118530696



Wednesday, April 5, 2017

April 6: Stephen Greenberg on WWI medical photography

World War I Centenary Forum: The Frances Dupuy Fletcher Photo Album

Stephen J. Greenberg, will speak at 2 PM ET on April 6 in the NLM Lister Hill Auditorium on "The Frances Dupuy Fletcher Photo Album" as part of the Library's World War I Centenary Forum. Circulating Now interviewed him about his work.

The 2017 Spurgeon Neel Award

The Army Medical Department Museum Foundation is pleased to sponsor the 2017 Spurgeon Neel Annual Award competition for the article of 5000 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 non-governmental civilian authors who submit manuscripts for publishing consideration.

The AMEDD Museum Foundation will present a special medallion award and a $1000 monetary prize to the winner, who will be notified in advance, at a Foundation-sponsored event early in 2018.

All manuscripts must be submitted to the AMEDD Museum Foundation, amedd.foundation@att.net, by 30 September 2017. 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 committee appointed by the President of the AMEDD Museum Foundation. The winning manuscript will be selected no later than December 2017.

Additional detail concerning the Spurgeon Neel Annual Award may be obtained by contacting Mrs. Sue McMasters at the AMEDD Museum Foundation, 210-226-0265.

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

April 6: Sarah Eilers speaks on WWI facial reconstruction

World War I Centenary Forum: Masking Devastation

by Circulating Now

Sarah Eilers, will speak at 2 PM ET on April 6 in the NLM Lister Hill Auditorium on "Masking Devastation: Inside Anna Ladd's Paris Studio" as part of the Library's World War I Centenary Forum. Circulating Now interviewed her about her work.


Circulating Now: Please tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from? What do you do? What is your typical workday like?

The original film she discusses is at the National Museum of Health and Medicine, since the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology no longer exists. See the rest of the interview at https://circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov/2017/04/04/world-war-i-centenary-forum-masking-devastation/



Thursday, March 16, 2017

New York Academy of Medicine archivist featured online

St. Elizabeths hospital exhibit at National Building Museum

Architecture of an Asylum: St Elizabeths 1852-2017
MARCH 25, 2017–JANUARY 15, 2018
http://nbm.org/exhibition/architecture-asylum-st-elizabeths-1852-2017/

I'm sure this will be a good exhibit and I plan to go see it. The hospital treated mentally-ill soldiers for much of the nineteenth century and there's a Civil War graveyard on the site.

St. Elizabeths had a historic collection, or museum, that was broken up in the 1990s with material going to the National Archives, the National Museum of Health and Medicine, Howard University, and at least two other places.

Here's the Medical Museum's description of its holdings:

SAINT ELIZABETH'S HOSPITAL COLLECTION, 1861-1990
No finding aid,21 boxes, unarranged, inactive, unrestricted.
Material transferred when Saint Elizabeth's closed its museum due to being transferred from the federal government to the District of Columbia. Includes books, photographs,paintings, patient art, certificates, and pamphlets. Most photographs and paintings are portraits of staff. Objects also in Historical Collections.
.
Additional material transferred to the National Portrait Gallery, National Museum of American History, Howard University,Department of the Interior Museum, Department of Health and Human Services' SAMSUS, Smithsonian Institution Castle, National Archives, and the Octagon House.

The Octagon House is the architects society's museum and it got a large model of the hospital (over my objections).

Here's a short piece from the Washington City Paper on some of the Medical Museum's holdings:

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

March 21: Shelley McKellar speaks on artificial hearts at NLM

[I saw a much earlier version of this research, and recommend this].

You are cordially invited to the next NLM History of Medicine lecture, to be held on Tuesday, March 21, from 2pm to 3:30pm in the NLM Lister Hill Auditorium, Building 38A, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD.  This special program will be the first annual NLM Michael E. DeBakey Lecture in the History of Medicine. This is a new annual lecture at the NLM which honors the legacy of Michael E. DeBakey as it exists in modern medical practice and in the ongoing public service of the NLM.

This year, there will be two speakers at this inaugural event:

"'Intentional Impact' The Legacy of Michael E. DeBakey Beyond the Operating Room"
Shelley McKellar, PhD, The Jason A. Hannah Chair in the History of Medicine, Associate Professor, with Joint Appointment with the Department of Surgery, Western University, Canada

"A Brief Look at Michael E. DeBakey's Role in Establishing the National Library of Medicine as It Is Today"
George P. Noon, MD, Professor of Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine

The NLM Michael E. DeBakey Lecture in the History of Medicine is supported by a generous gift to the NLM by the Michael E. DeBakey Medical Foundation
This lecture will be live-streamed globally, and subsequently archived, by NIH VideoCasting:


All are welcome.

Sign language interpretation is provided. Individuals with disabilities who need reasonable accommodation to participate may contact Stephen Greenberg at 301-827-4577, e-mail stephen.greenberg@nih.gov, or via 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:

Here also you can read interviews with previous lecturers:

Due to current security measures at NIH, off-campus visitors are advised to consult the NLM Visitors and Security website:

Sponsored by:
NLM's History of Medicine Division
Jeffrey S. Reznick, PhD, Chief

Event contact:
Stephen J. Greenberg, MSLS, PhD
Section Head, Rare Books & Early Manuscripts
History of Medicine Division
National Library of Medicine, NIH
301-827-4577
stephen.greenberg@nih.gov

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Dittrick Museum featured

Inside Cleveland's fascinating Dittrick Museum of Medical History (video, event schedule)
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.



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

 

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

301-827-4577

greenbes@mail.nih.gov

 



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/

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.

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:
12
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:
14
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

Monday, March 7, 2016

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


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.


Thursday, February 18, 2016

NMHM archivist Boyle featured on NLM blog

In the Belly of the Beast: A History of Alternative Medicine at the NIH

by Circulating Now

Dr. Eric Boyle spoke today at the National Library of Medicine on "In the Belly of the Beast: A History of Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health." Dr. Boyle is Chief Archivist at the National Museum of Health and Medicine. Circulating Now interviewed him about his work.

http://circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov/2016/02/18/in-the-belly-of-the-beast-a-history-of-alternative-medicine-at-nih/



Thursday, January 28, 2016

POSTPONED: NLM History of Medicine Lecture

Due to the extensive difficulties in travel following the record-breaking snow-fall in the Washington, DC area, the NLM History of Medicine lecture by Eric Boyle, originally scheduled for Thursday, January 28, has been postponed.

Thursday, January 21, 2016

NLM History of Medicine Lecture



Dear Colleagues,
 
You are cordially invited to the next NLM History of Medicine lecture, to be held on Thursday, January 28, from 2 pm to 3pm in the NLM Lister Hill Auditorium, Building 38A, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD.  Eric W. Boyle, PhD, Chief Archivist of the National Museum of Health and Medicine, Silver Spring, MD, will speak on "In the Belly of the Beast: A History of Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health."

The story begins in earnest in 1991, when a Senate Appropriations Committee responsible for the budget of the National Institutes of Health reported that it was not satisfied that the mainstream medical community had fully explored the potential of unconventional medical practices. In response, Congress mandated the creation of an office to investigate, evaluate, and validate unconventional health care systems and practices. The original Office for the Study of Unconventional Medical Practices, which eventually became the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) sought to obtain and disseminate knowledge about alternative medicine to practitioners and the public. But as one advocate of alternative medicine noted at a strategic planning session in September 2009, the challenges of studying complementary and alternative medicine at the NIH might be likened to working "in the belly of the beast." While skeptics have doubted the feasibility of this kind of research, practitioner-advocates have persistently warned about the dangers of alternative medicine being swallowed whole by the research behemoth. The central questions in this talk are how did the NIH meet its multifaceted mandate, and how did it tackle the challenges of investigating the field while addressing the priorities and demands of its harshest critics and most sympathetic supporters?

This presentation is co-sponsored by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, and the Office of NIH History.

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).
 
Due to current security measures at NIH, off-campus visitors are advised to consult the NLM Visitors and Security website:
 
 
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
 
 
 

Friday, October 16, 2015

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Friday, August 21, 2015

NMHM to move under Defense Health Agency

This largely restores the status quo of pre-BRAC when the Museum reported through the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology to the Under Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs.






3 US Organizations Set To Join Defense Health Agency
NMHM was founded as the Army Medical Museum in 1862 and is home to a National Historic Landmark collection of more than 25 million objects.









Thursday, August 6, 2015

Robert Osborn-illustrated booklet online

The Navy's BUMED's Office of Medical History has put its 4000th item online at the Medical Heritage Library. It's Vertigo Sense, illustrated by cartoonist Robert Osborn.

Read it at https://archive.org/details/VertigoSense

Thursday, June 25, 2015

National Library of Medicine historian Michael Sappol on WWII animation

The Inside Story

  on June 25, 2015

By Michael Sappol

Inside Out, Pixar's latest hit animated feature, is mainly set on the inside of a young girl's brain. Riley, an eleven-year-old, is operated by a committee of characters, each representing an emotion, who collectively try to deal with her troubles at school and home. It seems like a very contemporary way to depict consciousness, and critical reaction from psychologists and neuroscientists has been largely favorable.

Title frame from The Iside Story, featuring a sailors face and depictions of him from various stages of childhood.But, strangely, the film echoes an older and quite obscure piece of animated cartooning: a 1944 movie made during wartime for the U.S. Coast Guard, The Inside Story. That film, now preserved in the historical audiovisual collection of the National Library of Medicine, deals with the typical emotional problems suffered by men entering the military service and argues that psychotherapeutic approaches may help.

Continued at http://circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov/2015/06/25/the-inside-story/

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Civil War medicine by National Library of Medicine historians




Six Ways the Civil War Changed American Medicine

150 years ago, the historic conflict forced doctors to get creative and to reframe the way they thought about medicine


A ward in Carver Hospital in Washington, D.C., during the Civil War. One key innovation during this period was the division of hospitals into wards based on disease. (U.S. National Archives)


Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Buffalo medical museum featured on tv

Fascinating, strange collection to discover at UB's Medical Museum

June 3: Civil War medicine presentation at National Archives


Wednesday, June 3, at 2 p.m.
William G. McGowan Theater & YouTube
Civil War Medicine & Surgery

Archives specialist Rebecca Sharp will discuss The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865. This published source contains information about Civil War medical and surgical procedures as well as case studies. Video | Captioning | Presentation slides | Handout 1 | Handout 2.

 http://www.archives.gov/dc-metro/events/june.html