As new and returning medical students come to Washington University in St. Louis to throw themselves into their studies, we remember that self-experimentation in medical research has a long tradition at the School of Medicine. One of the earliest examples involves two medical school students, Alfred Goldman, MD 1920, and Samuel B. Grant, MD 1920, and [Read more]
Ying-Kai Wu (1910-2003), also known as Y. K. Wu, was born in the town of Xinmin in northeastern China. In 1933, he graduated from the Moukden Medical College, located in present-day Shenyang. Wu then trained in surgery at the prestigious Peking Union Medical College in Beijing. There, he served as chief resident in surgery in 1938 and [Read more]
Marian Sizelove and Joyce Gibbons, dieticians at Barnes Hospital, wrote in 1949 that “One of the age old complaints of hospital patients is that the hot foods [they are served] are not hot and that the cold foods are not cold.” Frank Bradley, director of Barnes Hospital from 1939-1962, worked with the hospital dieticians to [Read more]
This week, as we welcomed new residents to the Medical Center, we discovered a letter in the Archives and Rare Books Division that was written by a resident 101 years ago. The resident, Philip Moen Stimson, MD, went on to a distinguished career as a pediatrician renowned for his research in infectious disease. Becker Library has three [Read more]
Medical knowledge has undergone, shall we say, significant changes since the medieval and early modern periods. Humorism – the idea that the bodily health depended on the proper balance of the four humors of blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile – has been thoroughly debunked. We understand germ theory. A broken bone is a [Read more]
Lately, it seems the Washington University Medical Center is in a constant state of construction. Before one building is completed, work on another site begins. As the medical center has grown throughout its 100-year history, countless architects, construction workers, and artists have left their mark on its buildings. One unique finishing touch is a concrete [Read more]
Over 100 years of history are now on display on the seventh floor of Bernard Becker Medical Library. The exhibit “‘Skill, tenderly applied, works wonders’ – A History of The Jewish Hospital of St. Louis” is open now through August 31* in the library’s Glaser Gallery. Founded in 1902, the Jewish Hospital of St. Louis [Read more]
Victory in Europe Day, more commonly known as V-E Day, is celebrated each year to commemorate Germany’s unconditional surrender to the Allies near the end of World War II on May 8, 1945. Several hundred members of Washington University Medical Center community were serving in the U.S. armed forces on V-E Day, many of them attached to [Read more]
Lola Mae Baird Mathews was an operating room supervisor at Barnes Hospital from 1939-1943. In 1943, her last summer at Barnes Hospital, she worked hard at a course in chemistry at Washington University in St. Louis, because she wanted to earn a degree. Still, it seems her considerable knowledge failed to earn her the respect [Read more]
Nothing lasts forever, but archivists and librarians are dedicated to making sure some things last a very long time. Preservation Week is the perfect opportunity to learn more about what you can do to preserve your own favorite photos and important documents. Following a few simple guidelines can add decades to the life of a [Read more]