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 was originally intended to aid Jewish refugees and immigrants to the St. Louis area, but in practice served patients of all religions. The exhibit traces the hospital’s growth and achievements from its opening in a three-story building on Delmar Boulevard, to its relocation to Kingshighway, and on to its merger with Barnes Hospital to create Barnes-Jewish Hospital in 1996. The exhibit also highlights the hospital’s School of Nursing, which was founded alongside the hospital in 1902 and lives on today as part of the Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College.
Artifacts on display include the contents of the original hospital building’s 1901 cornerstone, a newsletter sent to Jewish Hospital staff members serving overseas in World War II, and a Jewish Hospital School of Nursing uniform from 1964.
Many of the items on display come from the Jewish Hospital of St. Louis archival collection, which is held in the Becker Medical Library Archives.
This exhibit is free and open to the public Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
UPDATE:
The St. Louis Jewish Light ran a wonderful piece in which the author took his mother, a former Jewish Hospital employee, to see the exhibit on her 96th birthday. Her memories add an interesting historical perspective.
*Due to the popularity of this exhibit, it will now remain on display through Oct. 8 with special weekend hours Oct. 7-8 (same as normal weekend library hours).