The Museum of Health Care (MHC) shows how Canadians have preserved health and managed disease, pain and suffering. The Museum strives to connect visitors of all ages with the experience of people in past times and provide context and perspective on today's health issues. Our blog is regularly updated with interesting and insightful entries by MHC staff and volunteers. Learn more about who we are and what we're working on. We welcome your feedback and comments.
The Museum of Health Care is pleased to welcome Anna Krentz, this year’s Margaret Angus Research Fellow! Anna Krentz is an archivist, historical researcher, and writer with cystic fibrosis. Her interdisciplinary background includes an MA from Toronto Metropolitan University and Honours BA from St. Francis Xavier University, as well as, graduate coursework in the … More Welcome MARF 2022: Anna Krentz
Dr. Wieman is an Anishinaabe woman from Manitoba, Little Grand Rapids First Nation. She grew up very poor with her adoptive non-Indigenous family as a victim of the Sixties Scoop. She had very little exposure to medicine prior to her entrance into McMaster University. After graduating from McMaster in 1993 with a medical degree and training in psychiatry, she became laser focused on improving the health and mental health of Indigenous Peoples and fighting Indigenous racism. … More Indigenous History Month: Dr. Cornelia Wieman
Dr. Oronhyatekha, meaning “Burning Sky” or “Burning Cloud”), also known as Peter Martin, a Kanyen’kehà:ka (Mohawk) became one of the first Indigenous persons in Canada to earn a medical degree on May 22, 1867. … More Indigenous History Month: Dr. Oronhyatekha
Today we are celebrating Dr. Nadine Caron who is making medical history! Her story is one of many firsts; she became the first Indigenous woman to graduate from the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) medical school and then, in 2005, became the first female Indigenous general surgeon in Canada. Most recently, Dr. Caron was named the UBC’s founding First Nations Health Authority Chair in Cancer and Wellness. … More Indigenous History Month: Dr. Nadine Caron
In 1866, Dr. Peter Edmund Jones became North America’s first licensed Indigenous physician after attending medical school at the University of Toronto and Queen’s College (now Queen’s University). He became a strong voice for the rights and health of Indigenous peoples, lobbying the federal government on behalf of Indigenous peoples, and promoting tuberculosis vaccination programs and advocating for public health initiatives. … More Indigenous History Month: Dr. Peter Edmund Jones (Kahkewaquonaby)
The Museum of Health Care at Kingston has hired a curator! Huzzah!
But some of you may be wondering: what does that actually mean? What on earth is a curator and what do they do? It’s both simple and surprisingly hard to answer. You’re probably at least vaguely aware that a curator is someone who works in a museum. You might have seen a curator in a movie, usually in the form of a pretentious, stodgy academic peevishly insisting that the hero stop touching the exhibits and with pretty even odds on getting murdered by a supernatural force trapped in some ancient artifact (as far as movie professions go, curators tend to have lifespans approximately equal to cops the day before retirement). You may have heard of someone curating a social media feed or a Pinterest board or read a thinkpiece on why calling everyone who collects content a curator will be the downfall of society. All of which can make it hard to figure out what exactly a museum curator does.
… More So You’ve Got a Curator. Now What?
Dr. Harold M. Tovell was born in 1887, and is considered one of Toronto’s pioneering radiologists. He was an arts and medical student at the University of Toronto, which was where he met his wife Ruth Lillian Massey through her cousin Vincent Massey, the first Canadian to hold the position of Governor General of Canada. Tovell and Massey were married in 1910 and lived first in New York and then in Munich, where Tovell trained under Dr. Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, the discoverer of x-rays. … More The Story of Dr. Harold Tovell and His Love of Art and Medicine
Today would have been Queen Victoria’s 203rd birthday! Victoria Day was established as a holiday in the Province of Canada in 1845, and now is celebrated on the last Monday before May 25th every year in her honour. Queen Victoria impacted Canadian health care practices and the history of Kingston in a number of surprising and fascinating ways! … More The Story of Queen Victoria and Canadian Public Health
The name Dr. Frank Ernest Mellow is attached to forty-three different artefacts here at the Museum of Health Care, not the least of which is the massive electrostatic generator currently on display in our “Electricity and the Invisible Ray” gallery! … More The Story of Dr. Frank Mellow and his Electrostatic Generator
The Museum of Health Care is accepting proposals for a resident 12-week summer research fellowship (June – September), which will investigate a topic relevant to the history of health and health care. The fellow will communicate the results of their research by posting updates via the Museum’s blog, producing a scholarly manuscript that will become part of the Museum’s collection, and giving a public lecture in the fall. … More 2022 Margaret Angus Research Fellowship: Now Accepting Applications!
