By Kelsey Koym, Archivist and Special Collections Librarian at McGovern Historical Center Introduction Every year the McGovern Historical Center staff spends a week in the Rare Book Room during the Christmas season, taking care of administrative and preservation tasks. McGovern houses a valuable series of collections, and these tasks are prioritized to ensure the longevity of these historical artifacts. […]
By Tara Sims, Archivist and Special Collections Librarian At first glance, this manuscript appears to be a quiet, little book—small, battered, and difficult to read. Located in the Texas Medical Center’s Rare Book Room vault, where the library’s most valuable and rare books are stored, this manuscript had little to no documentation regarding either the […]
By Kelsey Koym, Archivist and Special Collections Librarian The photo of Constance White was taken at Hermann Hospital and was previously in a scrapbook the nurses made. There is a picture of Florence Nightingale on the wall behind her. According to the inscription on the back Constance was the superintendent of Nurses at Hermann Hospital […]
Original Alloutte Life Flight helicopter
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Artist rendering of Hermann Hospital circa 1922
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By Tara S. Sims, Archivist and Special Collections Librarian. Introduction Books, typically seen as harbingers of knowledge and culture, can also have somewhat of a sinister side, particularly when looking closely at their anatomy and the historical period in which they were made and published. Archivists and Special Collections Librarians, Tara Sims and Kelsey Koym, […]
By Kelsey L. Koym, Archivist and Special Collections Librarian. The medicines used for the Toxic Medicines and Toxic Books exhibit were selected based on their historical use to treat various ailments and diseases; however, these treatments are now known today to be quite harmful to human health. It is important to remember that the ideology […]
By Tara Sims, Archivist and Special Collections Librarian. Newly processed! The John P. McGovern Museum of Health and Science collection has been processed and a finding aid is available at https://archives.library.tmc.edu/ic-079. The Health Museum: A Brief History In 1962, the “Victory Over Polio” campaign prompted the formation of a citizens committee, which recommended creating permanent […]
By Tara Sims, Archivist and Special Collections Librarian. While processing the John P. McGovern Collection of Texas Historical Medical Documents, I came across an interesting piece of Republic-era financial history: a beautifully preserved Texas “Redback” banknote. The significance of this curious document nestled within an archival collection primarily comprised of historical medical documents created by […]
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by Joy Oria, Archives Intern What is insanity? This and other weighty questions were pondered by James Greenwood Sr., MD during his long career in neuropsychiatry. His papers reflect his experiences treating patients at the Greenwood Sanitarium, which he operated from 1912 until his death in 1949. The sanitarium was located in Houston, Texas, south […]