Where did smallpox and its many less famous cousins come from?
Molecular anthropologists Dr. Ana Duggan and Dr. Hendrik Poinar from the Ancient DNA Centre at McMaster University are working on answering this exact question. The Museum of Health Care is delighted to be McMaster University’s latest partner in this exciting new research project. … More MHC newest partner in exciting Ancient DNA Centre project
Deaccessioning is the formal removal of an item from a museum’s permanent collection. The important thing to know about deaccessioning is that it’s mostly about paperwork and about status. An item can be deaccessioned without moving from its spot on a shelf. Physical removal of the item is a different and related process, called disposal (disposal in this case doesn’t translate to “garbage,” it just means putting the object somewhere else). We can deaccession items and not dispose of them, but a museum should never dispose of an item without deaccessioning it. … More What Do You Mean Museums Aren’t Forever? The Whats and Whys of Deaccessioning
Meet father-son medical team Dr. Charles H. Bird and his son Dr. H. Godfrey Bird! Collectively, this pair of … More The Story of Dr. C. H. Bird and Dr. H. G. Bird and their family practice
Savannah Sewell (MARF 2021) presented the results of her project, in which she endeavored to create a holistic and human narrative focused account of the lived experience of COVID-19. Savannah spoke to the hurdles and highlights of her experience in amassing a foundational COVID-19 Collection for the Museum of Health Care, and offered examples of the artifacts and narratives collected. … More The Lived Experience of COVID-19 in Canada presentation recording available
William Benjamin Stalker, or Bennie, was only ten years old when he was accidentally shot by his twelve year old brother in September 1901. His arm was severely damaged, and within two days it became gangrenous. Bennie was later sent to Kingston General Hospital from his home near Plevna, Ontario– an eleven hour trip. … More The Story of Bennie Stalk and his life-saving operation
The Story Advice manuals as a distinct form of literature began appearing as early as the 17th century. William A. Alcott (1798-1859) was a prolific 19th-century advice writer and proponent of vegetarianism with a keen interest in civil, social, moral, and religious reform. He wrote numerous manuals and guides addressing marital, domestic, cultural, financial, and health and … More The Young Husband (From the Collection #31)
The Story Cataracts are an opacity of the eye’s crystalline lens, found behind the pupil. This opacity stops rays of light from reaching the retina, causing blindness. The first recorded cataract surgeries occurred as early as 600 BCE. Couching, a process in which the cataractous crystalline lens is displaced inside the vitreous cavity of the … More Von Graefe’s Cataract Knife (From the Collection #32)
The Story For several thousand years urine was a, if not the, primary body fluid used in medical diagnoses. Physicians relied on their senses to assess patients’ urine and identify their ailments. Most commonly they studied its colour, smell, and amount of sedimentation. Taste could also be employed, but was used less frequently. Uroscopy began … More Urinometer (From the Collection #34)
The Story Before antibiotics and modern dental care, dentists had little choice but to remove a patient’s diseased tooth. The toothkey was developed in the early 18th century for tooth extraction. It consisted of a straight metal shaft with a handle of wood, bone, or ivory set at right angles to the instrument. The working … More Fox’s Toothkey (From the Collection #33)
Today, many remember Lydia Pinkham as a champion of women’s health and provider of important information to thousands of women. The formula of her Vegetable Compound changed over the years, and survives today in different, modern forms. … More The Story of Lydia Pinkham and her vegetable compound
