Blogs

October is Disability Awareness Month! National Disability Awareness Month was declared in 1988 by the United States Congress for October to raise awareness of the employment needs and contributions of individuals with all types of disabilities. Upcoming events in October 2019: Monday, October 7 Lupus Panel Event w/DAY, WWN, & YAAA 12:00-1:15 pm | Child Study Center, 230 S. Frontage Road, Cohen Auditorium | Register: http://bit.ly/lupuspanelevent   Join DiversAbility at Yale, Working Women’s Network, and the Yale African American Affinity Group for a panel discussion that will bring awareness to what Lupus is, the impact it has on the body, types of Lupus, causes of Lupus, facts about Lupus and its prevalence, diagnosis of Lupus, life with Lupus, the stigma associated with Lupus, and what we can do to provide support. Thursday, October 10 Resources For Aging Adults For Yale Employees 12:00-1:00 pm | 221 Whitney Ave, 612 | Register: http://bit.ly/2kMrWM8    Join a senior care specialist from Magellan, Yale’s Counseling and Support Services program, to learn about the array of resources available for all Yale employees, that address eldercare and aging family members. Details on services and programs will include, but are not limited to: Resource and referral, workshops, support from Magellan Behavioral Health (Yale’s Counseling and Support Services vendor), adult caregivers kits, and more. Friday, October 11 Social Media Accessibility: Basics 9:00-10:30 am | Poorvu Center for Teaching & Learning, 301 York Street, Room 121 | Register: http://bit.ly/2mc2MH8   In this training you’ll learn not only how to use the accessibility features that are available on these platforms, but also valuable work-arounds to counter those that are not. Wednesday, October 16 Café Con Leche w/DAY & YLNG 12:00-1:15 & 1:30-2:30 pm | 221 Whitney Ave, 109 & 800 Howard Ave, LL05 | Register: https://bit.ly/2TtdN3q    Join the Yale Latino Networking Group and DiversAbility at Yale to celebrate National Disability Awareness Month. Come to taste Latin coffee, sample Latin desserts, and learn about disability facts specific to the Latin community. Panel Discussion: Teachable Moments: Learning from Parents of Children with a Disability 12:00-1:15 pm | 55 Whitney, 369 | Register: http://bit.ly/2ml82bJ   Join DiversAbility at Yale and the Working Women’s Network for a workshop that will feature university staff sharing their experiences of parenting a child with a disability. Topics will include: successful parenting techniques, child advocacy, educational resources, self-care, family networks, and more.  Siteimprove Basics 2:30-4:00 pm | 25 Science Park, Room 321 | Register: http://bit.ly/2kMqQjD  Siteimprove is a self-service application available to all Yale faculty and staff to give website owners the insight they need to work towards improving the quality and accessibility of their sites, optimize the site for search engine discovery, and capture basic analytics about site use to help prioritize improvement efforts. This training will include hands-on activities. Saturday, October 19 Yale Rep Performance of Girls - Touch Tour, Audio Described, and Sign Language Interpreted 1:00-3:30 pm | University Theatre, 222 York Street | Register: http://bit.ly/October19Performance Exiled to boarding schools for his entire life, Deon returns to his birthplace with a vengeance––luring the women of the town to the woods for a night of uninhibited partying. Meanwhile, a young reactionary with a big social media following condemns the debauchery and vows to restore order. Pulsing with a beat that is as dangerous as it is seductive, Girls is an electrifying contemporary spin on the classic Greek tragedy, The Bacchae, with a killer DJ, bumping dance music, and live-streaming video.   Sunday, October 20 2019 Walk to End Lupus Now 3:00 pm | Calf Pasture Beach, Norwalk, CT | Register: http://support.lupus.org/goto/yaleaffinitygroups Imagine a day when doctors can say, “There is a cure for lupus”. Until that day though, there is work to be done. That’s why DiversAbility at Yale, Working Women’s Network, and the Yale African American Affinity Group are taking action in the fight against lupus. Join us as we participate to raise critical funds for the estimated 1.5 million people living with lupus in the United States. Tuesday, October 22 Accessible Word Documents, PowerPoint Presentations, and PDFs 9:00-10:30 am | Poorvu Center for Teaching & Learning, 301 York Street, Room 118A | Register: http://bit.ly/2metteh        This beginner's document accessibility workshop is designed to train staff in the basic methods used for making Word documents, PowerPoint Presentations, and PDFs digitally accessible, for inclusion on university websites or for university-related business, including teaching, student services, and other administrative support. Wednesday, October 23 Captioning Your Media at Yale: Options and Basics 9:30-11:00 am | 25 Science Park, 125 | Register: http://bit.ly/2lReQ0w   This two-hour training covers paid options for captioning your media through our Preferred Captioning Vendors 3Play Media and Rev.com, as well as free options, like YouTube. Attendees will leave understanding their obligations under Yale’s policy, the differences between the major captioning file types, and how to create, edit, and sync captions to their media for both Canvas courses and websites. DiverseAbility Career Fair 11:30 am - 2:30 pm | West Campus Conference Center, 800 West Campus Drive | Register: http://bit.ly/DiverseAbilityOCT23 The DiverseAbility Career Fair will feature 15-20 employers that are committed to hiring. There will be free professional photos for LinkedIn profiles, resources for persons with disabilities, employer hiring incentives, and more. The first 50 people to register can attend a special Career Fair Prep Session!    Thursday, October 24 Web Accessibility Training for Content Editors 1:00-4:00 pm | 25 Science Park, Room 321 | Register: http://bit.ly/2lYkkX2    This half-day workshop is designed to train staff who input content into websites how to do so in ways that meet Yale's Web Accessibility Policy. This workshop is primarily for people who create content through tools such as Wordpress or YaleSites Drupal. Friday, October 25 Student Perspectives on Inclusive Course Design 11:30 am - 1 pm | Poorvu Center for Teaching & Learning, 301 York Street, Room 120A | Register: https://bit.ly/2mmSyE4      Inclusive course design aims to create a learning environment in which every student has an equitable opportunity to engage and succeed. What should instructors know about the experience of students with disabilities when designing and managing an inclusive course? A panel of Yale students will share perspectives and recommendations in a wide-ranging lunchtime discussion. Saturday, October 26 DAY Yale Rep Performance of Girls - Open Captioned 2:00-3:30 pm | University Theatre, 222 York Street | Register: http://bit.ly/October26Performance  Exiled to boarding schools for his entire life, Deon returns to his birthplace with a vengeance––luring the women of the town to the woods for a night of uninhibited partying. Meanwhile, a young reactionary with a big social media following condemns the debauchery and vows to restore order. Pulsing with a beat that is as dangerous as it is seductive, Girls is an electrifying contemporary spin on the classic Greek tragedy, The Bacchae, with a killer DJ, bumping dance music, and live-streaming video. Wednesday, October 30 DiversAbility: Addressing Disability, Equity & Inclusion at Yale and Beyond 12:00-1:15 pm | Sterling Memorial Library Lecture Hall, 120 High Street | Register: http://bit.ly/diversabilitypanel  While some people live with disability from birth, many of us can expect to experience disability at some point in our lives.  Disability affects nearly 1 in 5 Americans, yet despite this reality, widespread misunderstandings, misconceptions and stigma continue to surround disability and those who live with disabilities.  Join us for an informative, robust discussion and learn more about the ways disability and accessibility are being addressed at Yale and across the country.

On Tuesday, September 17th the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library will join Yale University Library in celebration of Constitution Day with a reading of the U.S. Constitution. The reading will take place from 12pm - 1:30pm at the entrance of the medical library. All are invited to listen and/or join in reciting this historic document. Free pocket-sized copies of the Constitution will also be available!  

The method for accessing Ovid will change in Fall 2019. Users who want to keep saved searches or auto alerts must follow the steps below to migrate their account.   How to migrate your saved searches and auto alerts:    Follow the steps below:   1. Go to the Ovid landing page   2. Select “Start Ovid”   3. Select “My Account” (top-right corner)   4. Select “Create Account”   5. When creating your account:  Your “Personal Account Name” should be your yale.edu email (e.g.: jane.smith@yale.edu) Your “Password” should be: password Note: You can change your password after saved searches have been transferred to your new account. 6. Once you have created your account, please contact AskYaleMedicalLibrary@yale.edu to initiate the account migration process.

The Medical Historical Library is pleased to announce the addition of a new collection to our archives: The Hall-Benedict Drug Company Logbooks and Ledgers (Ms Coll 66), a collection of seventy-five volumes and six boxes, that documents the history of one of the oldest independent drug stores in Connecticut. The collection includes bound prescription logbooks and bound and loose financial ledgers from the Hall-Benedict Drug Company, which was in operation from 1909 to 1998 in the East Rock neighborhood of New Haven, Connecticut. The collection contains an almost continuous record of the pharmacy’s operations from 1909 to 1970 and is a wonderful resource for researchers interested in the history of pharmaceuticals, pharmacies in the twentieth century, and business in New Haven. The collection was a gift from Thomas F. and Helen Formichella. History The Hall-Benedict Drug Company was formed in 1909 when Alonzo Benton Hall took on Edward N. Benedict as junior partner. Both men had previous experience in the pharmacy business. Before forming the partnership, Hall operated a pharmacy on Chapel Street in New Haven and Benedict had worked as a druggist and a clerk. Following a national trend of small businesses opening in emerging neighborhoods, they opened the Hall-Benedict Drug Company at 767 Orange Street, a new three-story building located on the northern edge of development in East Rock, New Haven. The business and the business partners were well integrated with the neighborhood. Alonzo Hall and his family lived above the business and Edward Benedict and his family lived on Bishop Street, a few blocks south. The pharmacy provided a message service for local physicians, who would stop by after making house calls, had a bicycle delivery service for customers who couldn’t leave home, and the pharmacy’s soda fountain was a popular hang-out for children from nearby schools and busloads of visitors to East Rock Park. The Hall-Benedict Drug Company remained in operation at 767 Orange Street until 1998, when the business was closed. By that time, they had dispensed over a million prescriptions. During the eighty-nine years it was in operation the Hall-Benedict Drug Company was a family run business. After senior partner Alonzo Benton Hall's death in 1923, junior partner Edward N. Benedict purchased his share and became sole owner of the company and the property. In 1949, Edward N. Benedict died, and ownership of the business and property passed to his wife, M. Katherine Benedict, and after her death to the Benedict's children, Mary Benedict Killion, Frank D. Benedict, and Edward J. Benedict. In 1977 Thomas F. Formichella Jr., Edward N. Benedict’s nephew, who had been with the company since 1953, purchased the business and property and ran the pharmacy until the business was closed in 1998. He passed away in 2007 and his family retained ownership of the 767 Orange Street building until recently. You can still see the Hall-Benedict Drug Company building with the original pharmacy sign capped with the mortar and pestle emblem, ancient symbol of druggists, at the corner of Linden and Orange Streets in New Haven, CT. Prescription Logbooks The Hall-Benedict Drug Company collection includes fifty-two prescription logbooks dating from June 3, 1909 to March 14, 1970. The logbooks are organized by date and each hand-written entry includes a prescription number, the name of a medication, and a name, most likely that of the prescribing physician. In 1909, when the Hall-Benedict Drug Company opened, pharmaceutical companies were producing some medications, but most prescription medicines were made to order by local pharmacies, a process known as “compounding.” Entries in the earlier logbooks of this collection often include the formulas for compounding the medication and directions for patients, which makes them especially interesting. The pharmacists also used the blank spaces inside the book covers to write down useful information, such as formulas for non-prescription medications and products sold by the pharmacy and contact information for local vendors, or to paste in newspaper articles about new medicines or other topics of interest. These logbooks provide researchers with a wealth of details about the use and preparation of medications during a significant time in the history of medicine. Financial Ledgers The Hall-Benedict Drug Company collection also includes 22 volumes and six boxes of financial ledgers dating from May 7, 1909 to December 31, 1967 that contain hand written entries recording income and expenses for the pharmacy. Most of the financial ledgers contain daily income and expense entries with monthly totals, but there are also expense details, summaries and adjustments, balance sheets, profit and loss reports, and a payroll journal. The financial ledgers trace the growth of the business and relationships with vendors, including many local businesses, over a span of almost sixty years. Even for those unfamiliar with accounting, these ledgers provide a wonderfully detailed glimpse into the financial realities of operating a pharmacy in the twentieth century and operating a local family owned business in New Haven. See the Collection All materials in Ms Coll 66 The Hall-Benedict Drug Company Logbooks and Ledgers are open for research and may be requested through Archives at Yale. Selected materials are currently on view in the exhibition cases in the Medical Historical Library reading room through November 2019. Images from top to bottom: 1. Three pharmacists at the Hall-Benedict Drug Company look through prescription logbooks to refill an old prescription. Photo from “A Pioneer Drug Store Fills a Million Prescriptions.” New Haven Register Magazine, December 18, 1960, page 4. 2. John H. Korn, who started with the Hall-Benedict Drug Company in 1917, working at the soda fountain. Orange Street and the lower portion of the sign are visible through the front window. Photo from “A Pioneer Drug Store Fills a Million Prescriptions.” New Haven Register Magazine, December 18, 1960, page 4. 3. Hall-Benedict Drug Company building today with the original sign, East Rock Park is visible in the background. 4. Page from the first prescription logbook used by the Hall-Benedict Drug Company. Prescription entries in this logbook include formulas for compounding medicines and instructions for patients. 

Grant Wood’s American Gothic Repurposed and Several Anti-Smoking Acquisitions on view now at the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library. “American Gothic” is one of the best known works by an American artist. Iowa native Grant Wood was inspired by the small town Iowan home in Gothic Revival style and asked his sister and his dentist to pose for the painting as father and daughter residents of the well kept property.   To many viewers of “American Gothic” the scene was, and is, interpreted as a satire on rural life, but Wood avowed that the painting portrayed traditional American values, pointing out the residents’ resilience, fortitude and pride. The painting was first exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1930 where it won a prize of $300. It remains on view at the Art Institute.   Currently on display in the medical library hallway leading to the rotunda are:   Bruce McGillivray's Recycling, An Iowa Way of Life, Iowa Recycling Association, 1988. Purchased through the John F. Fulton Fund 2018   Marcia Cooper's We Can Live Without Nuclear Power, 1979. Purchased through the John F. Fulton Fund 2018   S. Cooper's Crop Rotation Pays, no date. Screen print. Copyright Compass Points, Memphis, Tenn. Purchased through the Lucia Fulton Fund 2016   About our collection This year, sixty-seven posters were acquired for the Historical Medical Poster Collection, a few of which are currently on display in the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library. The library regularly acquires posters, prints, drawings, instruments, manuscripts, rare books, and other objects and materials of interest in the understanding of medical and public health issues over time.  The library’s special collections holdings are available for use in classes and for study. To use these materials, contact the Historical Library or your departmental librarian.