History:

History of Medicine

Archives, Libraries, and Museums Associations, Organizations, and Institutes Background Biographical Resources Databases and Indexes Discussion Lists

Internet Guides Journals Pictorial Resources Primary Sources Statistical Resources

Archives, Libraries, and Museums

Below are archives, libraries, and museums for the history of medicine. For additional resources, see History: Archives, Libraries, and Museums. To search for archival materials, use the resources at History: Archival Resources.

• Falk Library of the Health Sciences, University of Pittsburgh
  • History of Medicine

• Medical Museums, Archives and Libraries in the United States (Dittrick Medical History Center, Case Western Reserve University)

• National Library of Medicine
  • History of Medicine Division
  • LOCATORplus
    Library catalog of the National Library of Medicine

• Wellcome Library
  • History of Medicine Collections
  • Catalogues

Back to top

Associations, Organizations, and Institutes

For additional listings, see History: Associations, Organizations, and Institutes.

• American Association for the History of Medicine
  Devoted to the study of all aspects of the history of the health professions, including disease, public health, and related subjects. Searchable membership directory, links to other sites, etc.

• American Association for the History of Nursing
  Nursing history calendar, gravestones and biographies of historically significant nurses and those related to the nursing profession, etc.

• American Medical Association
  Publications, consumer health information, medical ethics, etc.

• American Red Cross Virtual Museum
  History of the organization, with images.

• Society for the Social History of Medicine
  Association interested in interdisciplinary approaches to the history of health, welfare, medical science and practice.

Back to top

Background

Sometimes you may need some information to get more familiar with your topic. Below are some materials that can provide background on topics in the history of medicine. Additional resources are listed at History: Background.

• Beacon of Hope: 1953-1993: The Clinical Center Through Forty Years of Growth and Change in Biomedicine (Richard Mandel, Office of NIH History, National Institutes of Health)

• Bijlefeld, Marjolijn and Sharon K. Zoumbaris. Encyclopedia of Diet Fads. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2003.
  HUNT REF-1 RM222.2 .B535 2003

• Breslow, Lester, ed. Encyclopedia of Public Health. 4 vols. New York: Macmillan Reference USA/Gale Group Thomson Learning, 2002.
  HUNT REF-1 RA423 .E53 2002

• Bynum, W.F. and Roy Porter, eds. Companion Encyclopedia of the History of Medicine. 2 vols. New York: Routledge, 1993.
  ENGR&SCI STACKS R133 .E5 1993

• Duffy, John. "Public Health." In Encyclopedia of American Social History, edited by Mary Kupiec Cayton, Elliott J. Gorn, and Peter W. Williams, vol. III, pp. 2389-2397. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1993.
  HUNT REF-1 HN57 .E58 1993

• Engs, Ruth C. The Progressive Era's Health Reform Movement: a Historical Dictionary. Westport, CT: Praeger, c2003.
  HUNT REF-1 RA395 .A3 E547 2003

• Fox, Daniel M., and Marcia L. Meldrum. "Health and Medicine." In Encyclopedia of the United States Congress, edited by Donald C. Bacon, Roger H. Davidson, and Morton Keller, vol. 2, pp. 951-961. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995.
  HUNT REF-1 JK1067 .E63 1995

• Fuller, Robert C. "Alternative Medicine." In Encyclopedia of American Social History, edited by Mary Kupiec Cayton, Elliott J. Gorn, and Peter W. Williams, vol. III, pp. 2379-2388. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1993.
  HUNT REF-1 HN57 .E58 1993

• Gamble, Vanessa Northington. "Health Care Delivery." In Encyclopedia of the United States in the Twentieth Century, edited by Stanley I. Kutler, vol II., pp. 987-1007. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1996.
  HUNT REF-1 E740.7 .E53 1996

• Influenza 1918 (American Experience, PBS)
  Timeline, biographies, maps, etc.

• Jones, Anne Hudson. "Medicine and the Physician." In Handbook of American Popular Culture, edited by M. Thomas Inge, vol. 2, pp. 731-743. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1989.
  HUNT REF-1 E169.1 .H2643 1989

• Kohn, George C., ed. Encyclopedia of Plague and Pestilence: From Ancient Times to the Present. New York: Facts on File, c2001.
  HUNT REF-1 RA649 .E53 2001

• Lederer, Susan E. "Medical Science and Technology." In Encyclopedia of the United States in the Twentieth Century, edited by Stanley I. Kutler, vol II., pp. 941-956. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1996.
  HUNT REF-1 E740.7 .E53 1996

• Meckel, Richard A. "Health and Disease." In Encyclopedia of the United States in the Twentieth Century, edited by Stanley I. Kutler, vol II., pp. 957-986. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1996.
  HUNT REF-1 E740.7 .E53 1996

• "Medicine and Psychology" Part XI of The History of Science and Religion in the Western Tradition: An Encyclopedia, edited by Gary B. Ferngren. New York: Garland Pub., 2000.
  HUNT REF-1 BL245 .H57 2000

• Morton, Leslie T and Robert J. Moore. A Chronology of Medicine and Related Sciences. Scolar Press; Bookfield, Vt.: Ashgate Pub. Co., c1997.
  HUNT REF-1 R133 .M717 1997

• NIH Almanac: Historical Data (National Institutes of Health)
  Photos, chronologies of events and legislation, directors, surgeons general, etc.

• Rosner, David. "Health Care." In Encyclopedia of American Social History, edited by Mary Kupiec Cayton, Elliott J. Gorn, and Peter W. Williams, vol. III, pp. 2399-2409. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1993.
  HUNT REF-1 HN57 .E58 1993

• Rothstein, William G. "The Medical Profession." In Encyclopedia of American Social History, edited by Mary Kupiec Cayton, Elliott J. Gorn, and Peter W. Williams, vol. III, pp. 2363-2377. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1993.
  HUNT REF-1 HN57 .E58 1993

• Selin, Helaine, ed. Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Boston: Kluwer Academic, c1997.
  HUNT REF-1 Q124.8 .E53 1997

• Smith, Raymond A., ed. Encyclopedia of AIDS: A Social, Political, Cultural and Scientific Record of the HIV Epidemic. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1998.
  HUNT REF-1 RA644 .A25 E5276 1998

• Snodgrass, Mary Ellen. Historical Encyclopedia of Nursing. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, c1999.
  HUNT REF-1 RT31 .S66 1999

• Some Obstetrical History: Dying to Have a Baby: The History of Childbirth (Dr. Ian Carr, Professor of Pathology, University of Manitoba)

• A Thin Blue Line: The History of the Pregnancy Test Kit (Office of NIH History, National Institutes of Health)

• Timeline of Laws Related to the Protection of Human Subjects (Joel Sparks, National Institutes of Health)

• What Was it Really Like to Live in the Middle Ages? Health (Annenberg/CPB Project)
  Describes all aspects of health during the Middle Ages, including the humors and surgery, links to other sites. Includes the Medieval M.D. where you can diagnose and cure patients as if you were a doctor in the Middle Ages.

Back to top

Biographical Resources

See also History: Biographical Resources.

• Distinguished Women of the Past: Health and Medicine (Danuta Bois)

• Gravesites of Prominent Nurses (American Association for the History of Nursing)
  Gravestones and biographies of historically significant nurses and those related to the nursing profession.

• Portraits and Biographies (The French Society for the History of Dermatology)
  Biographies of French dermatologists.

• Profiles in Science (National Library of Medicine)
  Archival collections on prominent twentieth century biomedical scientists. The full text collections can be browsed or searched and include books, journal volumes, pamphlets, diaries, letters, manuscripts, photographs, audio tapes and other audiovisual materials.

• Windsor, Laura Lynn. Women in Medicine: an Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, c2002.
  HUNT REF-1 610.820922 W76W

Back to top

Discussion Lists

For additional resources, see History: Discussion Lists.

• H-Sci-Med-Tech

Back to top

Internet Guides

• Anesthesia and Pain History Resources on the Internet (A.J. Wright)

• Further Resources in History of Medicine (National Library of Medicine)

• History of Biomedicine (Karolinska Institutet, Library)
  Links to biomedicine in different cultures, through all time periods, as well as links to histories of different diseases, etc.

• History of the Health Sciences (Jodi L. Koste, Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences, Virginia Commonwealth University)

• History of the Health Sciences World Wide Web Links (Patricia E. Gallagher)

• MedHist: The Guide to History of Medicine Resources on the Internet (Wellcome Library)

• Renaissance Links on the WWW for Medicine (Virtual Renaissance)

• Yahoo: Health: Medicine: History

Back to top

Pictorial Resources

See also the resources listed in History: Pictorial Resources.

• Chinese Public Health Posters (Digital Clendening, University of Kansas Medical Center)

• Clendening Library Portrait Collection (Digital Clendening, University of Kansas Medical Center)
  More than 500 portraits of physicians and scientists.

• Greek and Roman Surgical Instruments (Nancy Demand, Indiana University, Bloomington)

• Here Today, Here Tomorrow: Varieties of Medical Ephemera (National Library of Medicine)
  A variety of medical and pharmaceutical ephemera, dating from the 18th century to the present and containing nearly 400 items, including posters, informational pamphlets, trade cards, handbills, postcards, broadsides. Themes and categories include women, children, the medicine show, public health, AIDS, tuberculosis, medical education, and addiction.

• Historical Anaesthetic Equipment: From a Catalogue of Surgical Equipment Published in London, England, in 1930 (Oyston Associates)

• Historical Images in Medicine (Duke University Medical Center Library)
  Over 3,000 photographs, illustrations, engravings, and bookplates from the history of the health and life sciences.

• Images from the Clendening Library (Digital Clendening, University of Kansas Medical Center)
  Hundreds of images from medical and natural history texts, most of which were printed before 1800. Organized by themes such as: diagnostics, human body, imaging, instruments, physician-patient culture, portraits, public health, reproduction, reproduction instruments,therapeutics.

• Images from the History of Medicine (National Library of Medicine)
  Search or browse portraits, pictures of institutions, caricatures, genre scenes, and graphic art in a variety of media, illustrating the social and historical aspects of medicine.

• Images from the History of the Public Health Service (National Library of Medicine)
  165 photographs depicting people involved in the work of the Public Health Service (PHS) over history. Topics include mental health and drug abuse, epidemics, health care for seamen, health care delivery, and international health.

• The Index of Medieval Medical Images (IMMI) (The Medical History Division of the UCLA School of Medicine and the History & Special Collections Division of the Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, UCLA)

• Medical Photographic Library (Wellcome Library)
  Search or browse over 160,000 images. To limit your search to historical images, under "Search Collections" choose Historical.

• Medicinal Plant Images (Southwest School of Botanical Medicine, Bisbee, Arizona)

Back to top

Statistical Resources

See also History: Statistical Resources. If you need assistance in finding statistical material, please ask at the Hunt Reference Desk.

• Allegheny County (Pa.). Division of Biostatistics. Allegheny County Mortality Statistics. Pittsburgh, Pa.: Allegheny County Health Department,Division of Biostatistics, 1990-.
  Print: 1988-1998
  UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH, HILLMAN LIBRARY RA407.4 P4A45

• Data and Statistics (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
  Statistics on all types of health issues. Dates of individual reports vary. Data from older reports may be available on microfiche in the Hunt reference room. .

• Grove, Robert D., and Alice M. Hetzel. Vital Statistics Rates in the United States, 1940-1960. PHS Publication No. 1677. Washington, D.C.: National Center for Health Statistics, 1968.
  HUNT REF-1/GOVDOC FS2.102:V83/940-60

• Linder, Forrest E, and Robert D. Grove. Vital Statistics Rates in the United States, 1900-1940. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1947.
  HUNT REF-1/GOVDOC FS2.102:V83/900-940

• MMWR: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. (CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
  Fulltext: 1982-present.
  Microfiche: January 6, 1978-present.
  HUNT REF-1/MFICHE ASI 4202-1
  Contains data on specific diseases as reported by state and territorial health departments and reports on infectious and chronic diseases, environmental hazards, natural or human-generated disasters, occupational diseases and injuries, and intentional and unintentional injuries. Also included are reports on topics of international interest and notices of events of interest to the public health community. Continues Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (see below)
• Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
  Print: v. 27, 1978-2000 (incl)
  UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH, HILLMAN LIBRARY, (4th Fl.1960+; Gr. Fl. pre-1960)
  Shelved under "MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report"
  Continued by MMWR: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly (see above) and continues Morbidity and Mortality (see below)
• Morbidity and Mortality
  Print: v. 1, 1952-v. 25, 1976 (incl)
  UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH, HILLMAN LIBRARY, (4th Fl.1960+; Gr. Fl. pre-1960)
  Continued by Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (see above).

• Public Health Reports: All Issues 2001-2004.
  Full text: 2001-2004.
  Note: Access is a trial and may end at any time.
  Print: v. 89, 1974-present.
  HUNT JOUR-3
  Continues Health Service Reports (see below)
• Health Service Reports
  Print: v. 87, 1972-v. 89, 1974
  HUNT JOUR-3
  Bound as Public Health Reports. Continued by Public Health Reports (see above); continues HSMHA Health Reports (see below)
• HSMHA Health Reports
  Print: v. 87, 1972
  HUNT JOUR-3
  Continued by Health Service Reports (see above); continues Public Health Reports (see below)
• Public Health Reports
  Print: v. 13, 1890-v. 85, 1970 (incl).
  HUNT JOUR-3
  Continued by HSMHA Health Reports (see above); continues Weekly Abstract of Sanitary Reports (see below).
• Weekly Abstract of Sanitary Reports
  Print: 1887-1895
  UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH, HILLMAN LIBRARY, Microforms (Ground Floor) CIS US Exec MF T2706-2 to T2706-10
  Print: v. 2, 1887-v. 10, 1895.
  UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH, FALK LIBRARY - 200 Scaife Hall

• Statistical Bulletin-Metropolitan Life.
  Print: v. 1, 1920-v. 62, 1981.
  HUNT BND-JOUR-3

• United States. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Public Health Service. and National Institutes of Health. National Cancer Institute. Third National Cancer Survey: Incidence Data. National Cancer Institute Monograph 41, March, 1975. DHEW Publication 75-787. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1975.
  HUNT REF-1/GOVDOC HE20.3162:41

• United States. National Center for Health Statistics. Division of Vital Statistics. Vital Statistics of the United States Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1939-present.
  Full text: ca. 1909-present (Dates vary by subject).
  Print: 1937-78.
  HUNT BND-JOUR-3
  Microfiche: 1978-present.
  HUNT REF-1/MFICHE

Back to top

History

See also:

History of Technology and Science