Reproductive rights in America are constantly changing. But how did we get here? Historical context can help us understand our current moment and even possible futures. Becker Library has a variety of historic materials that shed light on the history of reproductive rights at WashU and in St. Louis.
When discussing medical history, it is common for narratives to focus predominantly on Europe and America — yet doing so misses large, rich parts of medical history. Spotlight on East Asia was a two-day speaker series focusing on medical history in East Asia (specifically China, Japan, and Korea), and was hosted by Becker Medical Library [Read more]
McMillan, as it is frequently referred to by most campus employees, is a massive 14-story tower with distinctive orange bricks and a terracotta roof that has served as one of the most iconic and recognizable buildings at the WashU medical campus for nearly 100 years. Curiously, the building features two different main entryways, each with [Read more]
Have you ever stumbled upon one of our collections that just looks a little too…sparse on the details? This post aims to discuss what happens when you find a collection that hasn’t been described in detail yet, like the Albert Fuller Papers pictured to the right. If you have spent time looking through the Becker [Read more]
What does multiple awards-winning video game Baldur’s Gate 3 have in common with Becker Medical Library’s rare books collections? In Baldur’s Gate, players can collect plants and monster parts, which are then refined and used in potions that give special effects in the game. This mechanic mirrors the real-life practice of gathering plants and animal [Read more]
If you hear the word dracunculus in a vacuum, chances are you’ll think of dragons. The frontispiece to the 1674 edition of Georg Hieronymus Welsch’s Exercitatio de Vena Medinensi certainly supports that association. Sitting next to the two Greco-Roman deities Diana and Mercury (identifiable by their shield and staff, respectively) is a dragon, which acts [Read more]
The Olympic Games are a celebration of athleticism and physical skill, traits prized by the Ancient Greeks. But what did the people of antiquity think of fitness and exercise? These topics are explored in De Arte Gymnastica, one of the earliest books on exercise and physical therapy. De Arte Gymnastica was first published in 1569 [Read more]
Using archival records to determine if a friendship between two women was something more is challenging. At first glance, the records are rather ambiguous, perhaps intentionally so. What can we learn if we look closer?
Did you know the PC was invented at Washington University? Well, not that PC. The Programmed Console. In the spring of 1965, Jerome R. Cox Jr. and Wesley A. Clark co-taught a graduate course in computer design in which teams of students designed working computers. One student, V.W. “Bill” Gerth, also wrote an interactive radiation [Read more]
Part 1 covers a few of the people associated with Washington University who played a part in the building of the atomic bomb with reference to the 2023 film Oppenheimer. Part 2 focuses on the part Arthur Holly Compton played in Robert J. Oppenheimer’s life and as inspiration for the movie. There are spoilers for [Read more]