Travel back to a time when two thirds of Americans lived on farms or rural villages. Indoor plumbing was rare and homes were heated by sooty wood burning stoves and kerosene lamps. Work was physically difficult and accidents happened often. Serious diseases like cholera, yellow fever, typhoid fever, diphtheria, malaria, and tuberculosis are common. These… Continue reading Medical treatments in the late 19th century
Author: Cassie Nespor
2012 in review
Here's an excerpt: This blog had 35,000 views in 2012! Not surprisingly, the post on Medicinal Alcohol and Prohibition was the most popular! Click here to see the complete report. Check back soon for more exciting topics in 2013! Thanks!
Youngstown and World War I medicine
During World War I, the United States aided the Allies' fight by setting up Base Hospitals in Europe. Base Hospital 31 was organized in Youngstown, OH in the beginning of 1917. The $50,000 needed to supply the hospital was funded by donations from the citizens and staffed by 300 volunteers from the local medical community… Continue reading Youngstown and World War I medicine
Baby shoes!
Last week, I had a call from a woman who wanted to donate something to the museum. She explained the item to me over the phone, and since we didn't have anything like it in the collection, we made an appointment for her to bring them in. This is what she brought: She told me… Continue reading Baby shoes!
More on the replica Iron Lung
"I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if people could get into (the iron lung),’ but I couldn’t let them into the real one that we have,” said Cassie Nespor, museum curator. Enter Andy Phillips, YSU carpenter and primary force behind the effort to build a replica “iron lung” that visitors could get in and experience… Continue reading More on the replica Iron Lung
Its here!
The replica Iron Lung is finally here! This custom-made Iron Lung was created so that visitors can actually go *inside* an Iron Lung and experience what it felt like to be encased in the bright yellow chamber. Polio victims would have lived like this for weeks- or even years! It has a bed that slides… Continue reading Its here!
“Life in the Lung” photo exhibit
The Rose Melnick Medical Museum will host a new temporary exhibit called "Life in the Lung" from Friday, July 6th to Friday, August 17th. The museum will hold special weekend hours for Summer Festival of the Arts. Saturday, July 7th: 10am to 7pm Sunday, July 8th: 11am to 5pm The exhibit will feature 20 photographs… Continue reading “Life in the Lung” photo exhibit
New medical report on Lincoln assassination found
A researcher for the Papers of Lincoln project has found a medical report from 1865 written by the first doctor to reach President Lincoln. The Times Union reports that it was found in the Surgeon General's correspondence files at the National Archives. Dr. Charles Leale had only been a doctor for 6 weeks when he… Continue reading New medical report on Lincoln assassination found
Pneumothorax Apparatus
[This post was researched and written by a Respiratory Care student who studied at the museum this semester.] The Davidson Pneumothorax Apparatus was patented in 1933 by Louis R. Davidson, a tuberculosis specialist. It was used to treat tuberculosis by causing an artificial pneumothorax (collapsing the lung by directly introducing air in the chest cavity). … Continue reading Pneumothorax Apparatus
What is that?!
[This post was researched and written by a Respiratory Care student who studied at the museum this semester.] The Jones Motor Basal respirometer, manufactured in 1937, was created by the medical doctor, Horry M. Jones. The Jones Motor was a device used to look into a patient's breathing patterns by using calculations for understanding breathing… Continue reading What is that?!
Melnick Medical Museum 