By Gabrielle Barr ~ Every day, staff at the National Library of Medicine are working to maintain and expand the online catalog that provides the
Author: Circulating Now
Closing the Book on “Shadows from the Walls of Death”
This collection of arsenic-laden wallpaper samples required special housing. NLM conservators encapsulated the pages in polyester film, welded shut with support from Smithsonian Libraries…
Remembering Elizabeth Fee, PhD, 1946-2018
Dr. Fee served most recently as NLM Senior Historian and previously as Chief of the NLM History of Medicine Division for over two decades. On October 17 Ted Brown, Professor of History and Medical Humanities at the University of Rochester, will offer a special public lecture in honor and memory of Dr. Fee.
Spice of History: A Gingerbread Recipe
Recipe books from the 18th century hold a combination of food recipes, herbal remedies, and other such household creations thought to improve health. Powell’s “ginger bread” recipe includes ingredients easily found in today’s grocery store and provides measures still in use today.
How to Become a Nurse and How to Succeed, ca. 1892
By Gabrielle Barr ~ “Don’t talk too long to patients…. Never lean against the table with one’s hands in one’s apron pockets…. Don’t be too
From Discovery to Digital Science: The U.S. National Library of Medicine
By Susan Crawford ~ My grandfather, John T. Brundage, MD was the only doctor in Moscow, Pennsylvania, a community of about 1000 people. Practicing medicine
Detailing Michael DeBakey’s War Years: Puzzle Pieces
By Sanders Marble ~ In November 2017, I was fortunate to get an NLM Michael E. Debakey Fellowship in the History of Medicine to explore
Revealing Data: Close Reading and Textual Analysis as Historical Methods
Historical medical journals provide unique perspectives on the development of expert understanding of transmission, morbidity, and impact during an epidemic. Examining the ways that medical
Revealing Data: Measuring Mortality during an Epidemic
Historical medical journals provide unique perspectives on the development of expert understanding of transmission, morbidity, and impact during an epidemic. Examining the ways that medical
Revealing Data: Using Term Frequency to Chart Influenza Reporting
Historical medical journals provide unique perspectives on the development of expert understanding of transmission, morbidity, and impact during an epidemic. Examining the ways that medical
One Medical Officer’s Armistice Day
By Susan L. Speaker ~ The newspaper headlines on November 11, 1918 were exultant: after more than four long years, the Great War was over!
Revealing Data: Investigating The Hospital’s file sizes
By Ashley Bowen ~ For researchers interested in the administration of British hospitals in the late 19th and early 20th century, The Hospital is a
“Fit to Fight”: Home front Army doctors and VD during WW I
By Susan L. Speaker ~ After the United States entered the World War in April 1917, Dr. Wilbur Sawyer, a 37-year-old public health administrator with
Fifteenth Century Books: From the Cradle of Printing in the West
By Laura Hartman ~ Zodiac Man. Critical Days. Secrets of women. Chiromancy. Plague. Poisons. Aristotle. Hippocrates. You can explore these topics and many more common
Communing and Giggling with Cajal
Circulating Now welcomes guest blogger Dawn Hunter, Associate Professor, School of Visual Art and Design, University of South Carolina and Fulbright España Senior Research Fellow
The Forgotten Frontier: Nursing Done in Wild Places
By Emma Carter ~ “Where do babies come from?” Children have been asking this question for as long as humankind has populated the Earth, and
Making the Case for History in Medical Education
David S. Jones, MD, PhD will give the annual James H. Cassedy Memorial Lecture on Thursday, September 20, 2018 at 2 P.M. EST at the
Letters Shed Light on Huey Long’s Murder Mystery
By Divyansh Agarwal ~ A seemingly typical Sunday evening in Louisiana, September 8, 1935, was about to become extraordinary. The House of Representatives had organized
Finding Hope: A Woman’s Place is in the Lab
By Ashley Bowen ~ While doing some research ahead of the 50th anniversary of the rubella vaccine in June 2019, I came across an image
The Tomatoes of August
By Susan L. Speaker ~ August, as every gardener knows, is tomato time. Suddenly all the plants are full of ripe fruit (yes, tomatoes are
