Archives – Page 2

Why Wood-n’t You Want to Be An Archivist?

Staff Intern work March 9, 2018June 21, 2018Access, Archives, EAD, Institutional records, Processing

– by Carly Schanock, Archives intern

As a graduate student in the Library and Information Sciences program at Drexel, you learn a lot about theory and read many articles about archives and archival work from those who have experience in the field. I couldn’t help but be jealous of those with practical experience in the archival field as there is only so much you can learn from reading. I’d previously done work with digital archives so I wanted an opportunity to work with physical materials. I had visited the Mütter Museum one weekend but hadn’t realized at the time that they also had a library and archives. It was during one of my graduate courses at Drexel that I had to interview an archivist. I discovered the Historical Medical Library and ended up touring there for the class. Luckily, just a short time later I received an email about an archives internship available at the Historical Medical Library and I jumped on the chance. I began my internship at the Historical Medical Library in January 2018.

From Business School to the Archives

Staff Education and outreach, Intern work, Out of the stacks December 15, 2017June 21, 2018Archives, Exhibits, History of medicine, Mental health, Primary source research

– by Drew Campbell, Archives intern

This semester, I began my junior year at the University of the Sciences. After I made my schedule for the semester, I realized how much time I had after my classes ended for the day. I wanted to find an internship opportunity because I have always been able to learn more from working than from sitting in a classroom. As a student in a university environment where science is the main focus, I wanted to spend some time not in a lab, but with history.

The Brains of the Operation: Processing the Records of the Office of the Executive Director

Staff Intern work, Out of the stacks April 22, 2016April 18, 2018Access, Archives, Institutional records, MPLP, Processing

– by Mary Hanes, Archives intern

The records generated by organizations provide important evidence about the organization’s history and function. In January of 2016, I started to process the College of Physicians of Philadelphia Office of the Executive Director records. The Director oversees the everyday governance and administration of the College. This includes overseeing the budget, strategic planning, special projects, and creating and maintaining relationships with other institutions. With so many responsibilities, the office generates a considerable amount of documentation, from correspondence to meeting minutes. The scope of my project includes processing boxes the Library received from the Office of the Executive Director and arranging them to better document the office’s administrative activities and governance duties.

Because the Executive Director’s Office produces so many files, the office keeps active records and sends the inactive files in boxes to the Library. Boxes arrive with varying levels of organization. Recently, the executive assistant to the current CEO requested minutes from a specific committee meeting. Although the material was located, it became clear that the collection needed processing to make it more accessible for current staff and future external researchers.

From ‘Bicephalic Monsters’ to ‘Brains of the Insane’: How Anatomists Built Evolutionary Hierarchies

Staff From our researchers, In the museum, Out of the stacks January 26, 2016April 12, 2016Anatomy, Archives, Disability studies, History of medicine, Medical museums, Mütter Museum, Teratology

-by Wood Institute travel grantee Trevor Engel*

Museum catalog — “Presented by Dr. Corse.” Page from the Catalogue of the Mütter Museum, Volume 1 (CPP 7/002-01). 1884.

As a freshman in college who enjoyed collecting dead things—skulls, bones, taxidermy, wet preserved animals, among other things—I always hoped that I would have the chance to visit the Mütter Museum at The College of Physicians of Philadelphia. I’ve long been fascinated by death, so the Mütter seemed to be a place I just had to visit. But never did I imagine myself in the College’s Historical Medical Library poring through the original handwritten catalog and countless other nineteenth-century documents, analyzing the language used to describe “monsters,” and investigating how anatomists procured the bodies and body parts of people we might now call “disabled.” What made it possible for me to finally visit the Mütter, however, had nothing to do with my passion for collecting dead animals, but rather the field in which I am specializing: disability history. This relatively new field investigates the experiences of disabled people and also explores “disability” and “the normal” as social, political, and cultural categories in historical context.

Cleaning Up Bad Data and Finding Hidden Collections: How ArchivesSpace Makes Our Archives Accessible

Staff Breaking news, Happenings, Staff projects January 12, 2016January 16, 2019Accessibility, Archives, ArchivesSpace, Cataloguing, EAD, Finding aids, Legacy data, Primary sources

As is the case in so many libraries and archives, the manuscript collections at the Historical Medical Library used to be difficult to find, let alone search. Some were available through the College website as (essentially) text files. Unless a researcher knew the name of the collection he or she wanted to consult, it was virtually impossible to find the correct information.

The old interface researchers saw when searching our finding aids.

Special Collections Aren’t For Only Librarians and Archivists

Staff Education and outreach, Happenings December 3, 2015April 18, 2018Archives, Exhibits, Monsters, Outreach, Teaching with primary sources

October and November were busy months for the Historical Medical Library! We launched our blog, announced that our collection of anthropodermic (human skin) books is the largest in the United States, held several impromptu pop-up exhibits, and hosted an Archives Month Philly event.

Our pop-up exhibits have been received with enthusiasm and we love surprising Museum visitors with the opportunity to visit the Library and see our collections. The exhibits in October were focused on the concept of “monster” as used as a medical term over the past 500 years, and culminated in our Archives Month Philly event, “The Monstrous, Fabled & Factual: Exploring the Meaning of ‘Monster,’ 1500-1900.” (You can read our previous post about Archives Month here.) The exhibits in November displayed our “Favorite Things.”

This year was our first time participating in Archives Month Philly. It was fantastic to invite everyone, show off our collections, and talk about them with our peers. We feel like our Library has been “hidden” for so long – especially to the general public – and Archives Month was the perfect opportunity to show people that we exist and have interesting collections!

Louis Pasteur, Joseph Lister, and the Mystery of the Smudged Date

Staff Education and outreach, Out of the stacks November 3, 2015January 29, 2016Archives, Correspondence, Dating historical manuscripts, History of medicine, Louis Pasteur, Robert Abbe, Vaccines

by Karie Youngdahl, Project Director, History of Vaccines

Robert Abbe (1851-1928), a New York surgeon and Fellow of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, was an avid collector of medical and archaeological objects. Here at the College’s Historical Medical Library, we hold a number of Abbe’s items, including mementos from his friendship with Marie Curie. Of particular interest to the History of Vaccines project is Abbe’s collection of Louis Pasteur memorabilia, much of it dating from the 1922 centenary celebrations of Pasteur’s birth.

The collection includes a scrapbook with photographs of Pasteur and his family, French postage stamps featuring Pasteur as a national hero, postcards of monuments dedicated to the scientist, and commemorative tags picturing key moments from his life. However, what stands out in the collection is a letter in Pasteur’s handwriting. The letter is intriguing both because it involves several of the 19th century’s most eminent scientific figures and because it presents something of a mystery.