Dittrick Museum of Medical History facts for kids
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| Established | 1898 1926 (current location) |
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| Location | 11000 Euclid Avenue Cleveland, Ohio 44106 |
| Type | Medicine |
| Public transit access |  Adelbert Road |
The Dittrick Museum of Medical History is a cool place to learn about how medicine has changed over time. It's part of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. This museum is special because it collects old books, medical tools, and pictures. All these items help us understand the history of medicine.
The museum first started in 1898. Today, it's a place where students and visitors can study and explore. You can find it inside the Allen Memorial Medical Library in an area called University Circle in Cleveland.
Contents
History of the Museum
The Dittrick Museum began with a collection of items about doctors and their work. Over time, it grew to include many tools and technologies used in medicine. The museum now focuses on how medical technology has changed. It also looks at how doctors and patients have interacted throughout history.
A very important person in the museum's early days was Dudley Peter Allen. He was a surgeon in the late 1800s. In 1894, when the idea for the museum began, Allen gave many valuable items. He continued to donate until he passed away in 1906. After his death, his wife, Elizabeth Severance Allen, kept supporting the museum. She helped build the Allen Memorial Medical Library and the museum in his memory.
The museum first opened its doors to everyone in 1960. It has been open to the public ever since. Today, it's a study center for the university and a fascinating museum for visitors.
Key People Behind the Museum
Dudley Peter Allen
Allen was born in Ohio on March 25, 1852. Both his father and grandfather were doctors. He studied at Oberlin College and then at Harvard Medical School. He became a doctor in 1879.
After finishing school, Allen returned to Ohio and settled in Cleveland in 1883. He was one of the first doctors in Cleveland to focus only on surgery. He had a very successful career. He taught surgery at Western Reserve Medical College for many years. He became a professor of surgery and later a senior professor.
James Edmonson
James Edmonson was the curator of the Dittrick Museum until 2017. A curator is someone who takes care of a museum's collections. He studied at the College of Wooster in Ohio.
Edmonson has written many books and articles about medical history. Some of his works include books about American surgical tools and photographs of medical dissections. He also wrote about the Dittrick Museum itself in a book called Medical Museums: Past, Present, and Future.
What You Can See: The Collections
The Dittrick Museum has many different collections. These include old documents, medical tools, and historical images.
The Blaufox Hall has one of the best collections of diagnostic instruments. These are tools doctors use to figure out what's wrong with a patient. You can see how these tools have changed over the years. They show how the relationship between doctors and patients has grown.
The museum also has a large collection about reproductive and medical history. Not everything can be shown in the museum because of space. But you can find a lot of information online. For example, they have collections about smallpox and skin conditions on their website.
Some of the cool exhibits and galleries you can explore at the museum include:
- Diagnostic Instruments
- A Doctor's Office from the 1870s
- A Doctor's Office from the 1930s
- Early Medical Practice and Education
- Hospital Medicine from 1865-1920
- Laboratory Medicine from 1865-1920
- Microscopes
- Pharmacy from the 1880s
- Surgery
Images for kids
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Exhibit on the Cleveland Health Museum featuring Juno the "invisible woman" and historic photos from 1943 through the 1960s.
