Museum of Medical History

The Museum was created after the closure of the Paul Guttman Medical Library and Information Center. The Library closed on January 1, 2000, after more than 50 years of service to Society members and the public at large. When the difficult decision to close the Library was made in 1999, the Society's Board wanted to preserve the best of the Library's collection of texts, journals and artifacts.

It took 16 months to decide what to keep and then to find homes for the books and journals not considered of historical value. By the end of April 2001, homes had been found for the 900 texts and 18,000 bound journals we decided not to keep. The surplus of our collection went to our members, other medical libraries and numerous publishers. Selected journal titles from the 1950's back to the late 1800's were saved along with hundreds of rare texts dating back to the 1700's. Nine hundred feet of shelving was retained to hold the most interesting journals and texts.

Construction began on May 1, and converted the existing 2,200 square feet into two sections. One thousand square feet were converted to commercial lease space and 1,200 were converted to space for the Museum along with an office and storage area.

In addition to the books and journals, there are 16 display cases showcasing medical artifacts collected and donated to the Society over the years. There are cases featuring collections in the fields of Surgery, Clinical Diagnosis, Infectious Disease, Pharmacy, Radiology, Chinese Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology and Medical Quackery. The museum has room to grow and we are giving thought to adding displays or exhibits of interest to elementary school children.