Figure 5. — Curator Charles Whitebread inspecting, 

 with admiration, five drug containers from the Squibb 

 collection (1945). {Photo courtesy of the American Pharma- 

 > nil, nl Association.) 



Plans were completed for the opening of new medi- 

 cal exhibits and adopting, with some modifications 

 and additions, earlier classifications set by Dr. Flint. 

 Dr. Whitebread grouped these into the following 

 classes: the evaluation of the healing arts; a picture dis- 

 play of medical men prominent in American history; u 

 ,1 materia medica display including the history of phar- 

 macy; and an exhibition on Sanitation and Public 

 Hygiene '- which was later to evolve into the Hall of 

 Health. 



In 1920, Dr. Whitebread added a number of speci- 

 mens of medical-dosage forms and pharmaceutical 



11 Two decades later, Dr. Whitebread designed a panel 

 showing photographs of famous medical pioneers of all na- 

 tionalities. See his article, "The Odd Origin of Medical Dis- 

 coveries," p. 321. 



Gebhard, "From Medicine Show to Health Museum," 

 p. 579. The original plan for this Hall of Health was to feature 

 exhibits on public health for popular educational purposes, 

 including an illustrated exhibit on hospital can-. See Foley, 

 "Smithsonian institution Devotes Much Space to Hospital 

 Exhibit," pp. 43-44. 



preparations to the Division's collections. He also ac- 

 quired other gifts to complete existing exhibits illus- 

 trating the basic principles of the various schools of 

 medicine, such as homeopathy and osteopathy — their 

 methods, tools, and ways of thought. 



In 1921, a tablet machine by the Arthur Colton 

 Company of Detroit, Michigan, was acquired, and an 

 exhibit illustrating vaccine and serum therapy was in- 

 stalled in the medical gallery. This was followed, in 

 1922, by a collection arranged to tell the story of the 

 prevention and cure of specific diseases by means of 

 biological remedies. 



During the following two years, two more exhibits 

 related to hospital supplies and sanitation were added 

 to the rapidly developing Hall of Health exhibition 

 which was opened in 1924. A third exhibit in 1925 

 consisted of 96 mounted color transparencies illus- 

 trating services provided by hospitals to promote 

 public health. Plans for the further development 

 of the Hall of Health continued during 1926, and 

 contacts were made with organizations interested in 

 the educational aspects of the healing arts. As a 

 result, several new exhibits were added. In 1926, 

 the American Optometric Association helped in the 

 installation of an exhibit on conservation of vision 

 or the care of the eyes under the slogan "Save your 

 vision," as a phase of health work. Other exhibits 

 in the Hall at this time were: what parasites are; 

 water pollution and how to obtain pure water; 

 waste disposal; ventilation and healthy housing, and 

 the importance of recreation; purification of milk 

 and how to obtain pure milk; transmission of diseases 

 by insects and animals: how life begins; prenatal and 

 postnatal care and preschool care; duties of the 

 public health nurse; and social, oral and mental 

 hygiene. 



With the acquiring of more medical appliances 

 and the widening of the scope of the exhibits, more 

 and more space was needed, and attention was 

 turned to the area of the medical gallery which had 

 been occupied by the materia medica collection for 

 almost four decades. To gain more exhibit space, 

 it was decided that the greater part of the crude 

 drugs should be removed from the exhibits and be 

 kept as a reference collection and for research. 13 



13 Lack of space notwithstanding, valuable accessions were 

 added about 1930, including a collection of early x-ray tubes 

 and personal memorabilia of Drs. William T. G. Morton 

 (1819-1868), Crawford VV. Lorn; (1815-1878), and William 

 Gorgas (1854-1920). 



278 



I'd I I ETIN 240: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



