By Alethea Drexler Archives Assistant Thingamajig took a vacation last week, but it’s back. The mystery objects in the black lacquered case were called “bougies,” and they were basically medical pipe-cleaners. They were used to remove debris from small wounds and orifices; the one of the most commonly-cited uses involved dislodging urethral calculi. They are […]
Thingamajig: lacquered case
By Alethea Drexler Archives Assistant A request was made this past weekend that the Thingamajig feature be posted on the blog’s main page so that it could be tagged and archived, instead of being replaced completely every week. So . . . here it is! Black lacquered carrying case This week’s Thingamajig came with the […]
John P. McGovern finding aid available
One of the great collections housed at the McGovern Collections is MS 115 the John P. McGovern papers. For about five years, the archivist Pam Cornell worked with the papers. She did preservation work, organized the collection, created the inventory and the finding aid. The finding aid is now available in a printed format at […]
Dissertations and Theses
The culmination of an advanced degree is usually a document describing and proving an original contribution to scholarship. Today’s scholars typically put their Dissertations or Theses online, such as the ones available at DigitalCommons@ The Texas Medical Center No electronic publishing for the 17th century student! Students at Basel Switzerland were among some of the […]
Wonder of photos
There is something about printed photos that appeals to us on a basic level. It is the “oh-I-want-to-see” effect. If one person whips out a photo, everyone near by wants a glimpse. Each photo offers a glimmer of another place and time. The photo shown today depicts a studio shoot at the Speech and Hearing Institute, Health Science Center, […]
An archivist retires
Every archivist leaves behind a bit of themselves in the archives they oversee. The legacy might be simple, such as enhancing collections that are close to the archivist’s heart. It might be the act of embracing new ideas or taking a risk on a new collection area. Few archivists have the opportunity to create an […]
Legacy equipment
This TECA Model M. electromyograph survived long enough to make it to McGovern Collections. The device is part of the Martha Pugh, M.D., papers, which are now being processed. Dr. Pugh was a resident at the Baylor College of Medicine in the late 1960s. She was a member of the American Academy of Physical Medicine […]
A hematologist in Hiroshima
While in Japan in the early 1950s, William C. Moloney, a hematologist, came face to face with the effects of nuclear weapon radiation on the civilian population. In his journal from that time, he talks about a 9-year-old boy who reminds him of his own son. The boy is scarred by radiation, dying from leukemia […]
Dr. Desmond’s papers now available
The papers of Murdina MacFarquhar Desmond, M.D., FAAP are now available at the Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center (HAM-TMC) Library’s Historical Research Center (HRC) at 8272 El Rio, Suite 190, Houston. A guide to the 3.5 linear feet of material is online at: https://archives.library.tmc.edu/ms-054. Dr. Desmond (1916-2003) was a member of a 1950s team […]
Blogging for archivist
Welcome to the The Black Bag: Foundations of Medicine created by the staff of the John P. McGovern Historical Collections and Research Center. The McGovern Collections are part of the Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center (HAM-TMC) Library located in the heart of the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas. Visit our web site for […]