Historical Library News
Jun 13, 2022
Come visit the newest exhibition featured in the Medical Library’s Hallway space! Highlighted on the walls of our newest exhibition are posters reflecting activism on behalf of women, children, and the HIV/AIDS community, dating from 1970-1998. These posters provide snapshots of larger efforts by activists to challenge the status quo and promote the welfare of people who needed action from government and industry groups. The Historical Library houses over 2,000 posters reflecting the history of medicine and health broadly, including materials related to activism and social movements. Featured... Read More
May 11, 2022
The Historical Library, in coordination with the Department of Pediatrics, is helping to celebrating 100 years of Pediatrics at Yale through a new physical exhibition in the Medical Library’s Rotunda. Founded in 1921, Yale Pediatrics has always been on the forefront of research and clinical practice. The exhibition features material on some of the department’s initiatives, including: Dr. Ruth Whittemore and the first pediatric rheumatic fever and cardiac clinic in New England in 1947 Development of Dr. Edith Jackson’s pioneering Rooming-In Program at Grace New-Haven Hospital from... Read More
Apr 1, 2022
Images from the Bert Hansen Collection of medicine and public health in popular graphic art Like audiences today, 19th-century readers of popular magazines and newspapers learned about public health initiatives and medical discoveries through articles and imagery. The Medical Historical Library team digitized over 500 images from The Bert Hansen Collection of Medicine and Public Health in Popular Graphic Art (Ms Coll 67), representing the earliest works in a very large collection that contains materials from 1850-2010. The new digital collection contains chromolithographs and... Read More
Mar 4, 2022
In a new hallway exhibition, Scenes from the Great Depression and its aftermath are presented in the works of recent immigrants and others for the Federal Art Project and the Works Progress Administration. Works include: The Relief Station, 1938, Lithograph by Oscar Van Young b. Viena 1906 d. U.S.A.1991, "The Relief Station," a realistic and not uncommon scene in art of the period, reflects the despair and patience of families who could no longer feed themselves without assistance. After coming of age in Russia during the civil war, Oscar was sponsored by influential American... Read More
Feb 1, 2022
Innovation & Evolution in Hip Replacement Surgery: Highlights from the Keggi–Rubin Hip Implant Collection at Yale University On view in the Cushing Rotunda, Cushing/Whitney Medical Library January 28th - April 29th, 2022 This exhibit explores the evolution of hip replacement surgery through historic implants selected from the new Keggi—Rubin Hip Implant Collection at Yale University. The displayed implants trace the trials, innovations, successes, and failures of hip replacement surgery over time, providing insight into the dynamic world of surgical history. By... Read More
Jan 6, 2022
The Medical Historical Library is the new home for a large collection of approximately 3,800 short published works on topics related to child welfare used by Arnold Gesell and the staff of the Yale Child Study Center as a reference collection. Topics include children and the war; day care centers; education; infant mortality; juvenile delinquency; intellectual disability and the eugenics movement; mental health; mental illness; nurseries; and nutrition. A portion of collection materials documents organizations and conditions relevant to child welfare in New Haven and... Read More
Jan 3, 2022
The Medical Historical Library is pleased to announce a new gift of patient records from Boston’s Waltham Hospital (which closed in 2003) dating from 1889 to 1897. Within 7 bound volumes are what are now called progress notes, operative reports, pathology reports, and medication records written by attending physicians. The volumes provide a snapshot of patient care, disease, and medicine in late 19th century Massachusetts. The collection is a generous gift of Alan M. Engler, M.D.; Yale College, Class of 1976. The Waltham Hospital medical records (Ms Coll 82) are now available for... Read More
Dec 3, 2021
The Medical Historical Library is pleased to announce a gift of approximately 230 books and manuscripts from the libraries of David Riesman, M.D. and John P. Riesman, M.D. The books range over a wide variety of topics and time periods, with the earliest texts dating from the 16th century. While volumes containing the works from highly influential medical authors such as Florence Nightingale, Herman Boerhaave, and Thomas Willis are part of the gift, other books in the collection provide medical advice and science fun for more popular audiences. Examples include a 1774 copy of William... Read More