by Alethea Drexler, archives assistant mcgovern@exch.library.tmc.edu You know I never pass up an opportunity to scan something. We received an image request early this week that sent me scurrying off to look into Institutional Collection 34, the San Jacinto Lung Association[1], a collection with which I had never before had occasion to work. Oh, my. … Continue Reading Public Health and Christmas Seals […]
Letterheads: Introduction
by Alethea Drexler, archives assistant mcgovern@exch.library.tmc.edu I’ve been suffering with computer-related ailments for the past week, but our tireless and good-humored IT department has me back up and running. So, really, this week’s blog post is made possible by them. Thanks, y’all! When I re-boxed some of the Hermann Hospital Estate papers five years ago,… Continue Reading Letterheads: Introduction […]
The Office, 1920's
by Alethea Drexler, archives assistant mcgovern@exch.library.tmc.edu Let’s take a look at office life, circa 1924. This is the building that housed the Hermann Hospital estate in the 1920’s. The estate was responsible for the business and funding aspect of running the hospital. Here’s a closer view. It seems that road construction was a favorite local… Continue Reading The Office, 1920's […]
Blair Sanitarium
by Alethea Drexler, archives assistant Marie Brannon, one of our volunteers, has been doing a great job sorting through some of our intimidating collection of photographs. What is the first lesson learned by projects such as this? Always document your pictures. I repeat: Always document your pictures. Few things are more frustrating than being confronted… Continue Reading Blair Sanitarium […]
Candid Camera: George H. Hermann
by Alethea Drexler, archives assistant mcgovern@exch.library.tmc.edu Phil and I found a few boxes of photographs stashed within the Hermann Estate collection when I was looking for hospital-supply ephemera last week. I had not seen these when I re-boxed the collection five years ago because they didn’t contain any business papers. One box consists mostly of… Continue Reading Candid Camera: George H. Hermann […]
Outfitting a hospital, 1925
Alethea Drexler, archives assistant mcgovern@exch.library.tmc.edu Why, oh, why, didn’t I think to save last week’s post on Piltdown Man for April Fool’s Day? Oh, well. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Moving on from poor blog timing . . . this week takes us back into… Continue Reading Outfitting a hospital, 1925 […]
Stereoscopes, Hominids, and Hoaxes
by Alethea Drexler, archives assistant mcgovern@exch.library.tmc.edu I hope you’re sitting down, because this post is gonna be a wild ride. Archivist Philip Montgomery brought me a stereoscope image a few days ago and asked me to find out whether the fact that the card on which the photographs were mounted was curved was normal, or… Continue Reading Stereoscopes, Hominids, and Hoaxes […]
Pigeon Hole Parking, 1953
by Alethea Drexler, archives assistant mcgovern@exch.library.tmc.edu The following letter and brochure come from the Hermann Hospital estate collection, which is immense and has not yet been processed. I had the project of transferring it into clean archival folders and boxes a few years ago, and I know there are some interesting things hiding among the… Continue Reading Pigeon Hole Parking, 1953 […]
Dr. Kenney's Surgical Suite
by Alethea Drexler, archives assistant mcgovern@exch.library.tmc.edu (Click on image for a larger version.) This image seems to have been a fairly recent acquisition for us: Phil’s predecessor got it on eBay, where it was described as a “patient’s room” at Dr. Kenney’s Sanitarium in San Antonio, from around 1920. It’s obviously not a patient’s, room,… Continue Reading Dr. Kenney's Surgical Suite […]
Sunset Hospital
by Alethea Drexler, archives assistant One of the things that I find persistently frustrating is the speed, ease, and totality with which older hospitals disappear. Many, many, times I’ve received inquiries about such-and-such a hospital and started looking around for information, only to discover that, not only do we not have any material about it… Continue Reading Sunset Hospital […]