Take
me to a museum and I can spend hours soaking up the atmosphere. In the U.S, there are
over 35,000 museums, with the world’s largest museum, the Smithsonian, home to
19 museums. Worldwide, there are an estimated 55,000 museums. Last week we took
a look at museums of death; today we’ll check out some medical museums that may
astound you …
1)
The Mütter Museum in Philadelphia is
one of the best medical history museums in the country. Founded in 1858 by Dr.
Thomas Dent Mütter, the museum is home to anatomical specimens, wax models,
skeletal specimens, antique medical instruments and other medical
oddities. The museum is a combination of art, history, culture, science and
technology all shrouded in the cloak of medical mysteries and diagnosis. The
museum is open seven days a week and admission is charged. www.muttermuseum.org 
2) Located in a corner of the former Central State Hospital
(better known locally as the Indiana Insane Asylum) grounds is a small building
which once housed the Pathology Building. In fact, it is the oldest surviving
pathology facility in the country. Inside is the Indiana Medical History Museum
where you will find a recreated doctor’s office from the early 20th
century along with artifacts from the beginning periods of scientific
psychiatry and modern medicine. The
museum also offers free guided tours each Saturday from June through September
of the Medicinal Plant Garden. Open Thursdays – Saturdays: admission is
charged. www.imhm.org
3)
If bones are your thing then this is your museum! The Museum of Osteology is
America’s only skeleton museum with over 300 skeletons on display. Located in
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, it’s 7,000 square feet of skulls and skeletons from
all over the world. The idea for a bones museum began in 1972 when 7-year-old
Jay Villemarette found a skull in the woods; he began collecting them. He
opened Skulls Unlimited in 1990 and the current museum opened in 2010 with the
largest privately held collection of osteological specimens in the world. The
museum includes displays on comparative anatomy, adaption and locomotion,
forensic pathology and the skeletons of various species of animals, including
human. The museum is open seven days a week; admission is charged and cameras
are welcome. www.museumofosteology.org
4)
Just opened: The Morbid Anatomy Museum, in Brooklyn, New York offers a chance
to “explore the intersections of death,
beauty and that, which falls between the cracks.” The museum held its grand opening to the
public Saturday, June 28th! The museum’s collection of books,
photos, art, taxidermy, ephemera and artifacts all relate to the history of
medicine, social curiosities and death, with special exhibits like “The Art of
Mourning” which takes a look at the mourning culture from the 18th
century through the 20th. The museum is now open everyday except
Tuesday and admission is charged. www.morbidanatomy.blogspot.com
There
are hundreds of medical museums and natural history museums around the world. For
a comprehensive list visit www.morbidanatomy.blogspot.com
and review the Museums/Collectors; Medical Museums and Natural History Museums sections
listed on the left hand side of the page.
Next
week, a look back at a great inventor.
