by Kate Wilson, Archivist In processing the D. H. Rankin Medical Artifacts Collection I have found myself intrigued with the Electreat Mechanical Heart. I’m not really sure what draws me to this object- maybe the fact that we have six of them in the collection or maybe the incredibly illustrated promotional flyer that accompanies the device. […]
And the Sorting Begins!
By Kate Wilson, Archivist The McGovern Historical Collections recently received a collection of early twentieth century medical artifacts. The collector, a family physician in Austin, Texas, had a personal interest in hearing related devices and quack medicine, so most of the objects in the collection can fall into those categories. The first step in processing a collection is organizing […]
Dental Decks
by Philip Montgomery This Dental Deck for the NDB exam appeared at the Texas Medical Center Library’s book drop. Staff on the circulation desk called the McGovern Historical Center and offered us the deck. We snapped it up. It is a curious set of flashcard. In my mind flash cards are something I used in […]
Trials of Trowels
by Philip Montgomery, archivist One of our volunteers found two trowels in a cabinet. The trowels are in excellent shape and relatively unused. I suppose they were used for the laying of a cornerstone or some masonry project related to a new construction. These trowels reside in the TMC Library’s McGovern Historical Collections without historical […]
Pulling Teeth from the Man of Steel
by Philip Montgomery, archivist I want to be perfectly clear at the beginning of this post that being an archivist is a tough job. I can’t even begin to describe the trials that come with being an archivist. You have your dirt, your mold, your sneezing, your cold temperatures, your silverfish, your 50 year-old hypodermics, […]
Back in the saddle
by Alethea Drexler, archives assistant mcgovern@exch.library.tmc.edu Figuratively, if not literally. Actually, we do have a saddle here at the McGovern Historical Research Center. It came with the Methodist Hospital collection, although nobody at Methodist could tell Elizabeth White, at the time it was donated, what was significant about it. They simply insisted it went with […]
Air and Rail, 1944
by Alethea Drexler, archives assistant mcgovern@exch.library.tmc.edu Guess what? Ephemera! I found a new cache this week and it’s too beautiful not to share. The following come from a series of items related to the early days of the newly-founded Texas Medical Center, when the M.D. Anderson Foundation had development grants and was looking for ways […]
The Archival Chamber of Horrors
by Alethea Drexler, archives assistant mcgovern@exch.library.tmc.edu I have a different kind of scary blog post for you this week. Well, it’s scary if you’re an archivist. Phil Montgomery, the archivist, and I do a lot of different things here, but when people ask me what I do most of the time, I tell them I […]
Jones Motor Basal metabolism tester, 1937
by Alethea Drexler, archives assistant mcgovern@exch.library.tmc.edu I am easily distracted by shiny objects. There is more to an archive than books and professional papers. I’m a bit of a pop culture aficionado, as I’m sure our readers can tell from past blog posts: I love ephemera[1]–the postcards, advertising, commercial packaging. I also love the realia[2]. […]
Surviv-A-Life Resuscitator
by Alethea Drexler, archives assistant mcgovern@exch.library.tmc.edu I’ve noted several times that mystery objects are a common part of our jobs (there wouldn’t be Thingamjigs without them!). Last week, our couriers arrived bright and early in the morning with an armload of returned books, newsletters to be stored away for safekeeping, and this: I had not […]