Health & Medicine

Iron Lung

The Museum's collections of medical science artifacts represent nearly all aspects of health and medical practice. Highlights include early X-ray apparatuses, such as one of Wilhelm Roentgen's tubes, penicillin mold from Alexander Fleming’s experiments, and Jonas Salk's original polio vaccine. More recent acquisitions include the first artificial heart implanted in a human, the earliest genetically engineered drugs, and materials related to David, the "Bubble Boy." Other artifacts range from artificial limbs and implant devices to bloodletting and dental instruments, beauty products, and veterinary equipment. The contents of a medieval apothecary shop and an 1890s drugstore form part of the collections, along with patent and alternative medicines. The collections also document the many differing perspectives on health and medical issues, from patients, family members, doctors, nurses, medical students, and out-of-the-mainstream health practitioners.

Date: 1990s

button, "Fuck the Red Ribbons, Find A Cure"

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1994
maker
Ephemera, Inc.
ID Number
2011.0183.29
accession number
2011.0183
catalog number
2011.0183.29

Matulane (procarbazine HCl) 50 mg

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1998
product expiration date
1998-12-01
maker
Roche Laboratories
ID Number
2019.0108.15
catalog number
2019.0108.15
accession number
2019.0108

Bokros Carbomedics On-X Bileaflet Valve

The Bokros Carbomedics On-X Bileaflet Valve was developed by Dr. Jack Bokros PhD, a nuclear engineer in collaboration with Dr. Vincent Gott, a pioneering cardiac surgeon who spent thirty-five years training surgeons at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Description (Brief)
The Bokros Carbomedics On-X Bileaflet Valve was developed by Dr. Jack Bokros PhD, a nuclear engineer in collaboration with Dr. Vincent Gott, a pioneering cardiac surgeon who spent thirty-five years training surgeons at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Together Bokros and Gott pioneered the use of pyrolytic carbon in the development of artificial valves.
Pyrolytic carbon quickly became the 'gold standard' in the manufacture of heart valves, and today remains the most accepted material for the construction of mechanical prosthesis. Although valves utilizing carbon still require anticoagulation therapy for prevention of thrombosis its strengths, highly biocompatible, pure carbon surface create an ability to reduce turbulence to the blood and increases blood flow. .
Gott later became involved with the development of the first all-carbon bi-leaflet valve, the St. Jude artificial heart valve. Bokros went on to establish Carbomedics Incorporated and On-X Life Technologies. In the 1990s, his company was responsible for fabricating pyrolyte for more than 2 million valves, worldwide.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1996
year model introduced
1996
ID Number
2015.0031.37
catalog number
2015.0031.37
accession number
2015.0031

button, "Help Us Help. Volunteer"

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1994
maker
Gay Men's Health Crisis
ID Number
2011.0183.16
accession number
2011.0183
catalog number
2011.0183.16

Elspar Asparaginase MSD 10,000 I.U

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1990
product expiration date
1990-11-29
maker
Merck Sharp and Dohme
ID Number
2019.0108.19
accession number
2019.0108
catalog number
2019.0108.19

button, "1994 Philadelphia AIDS Walk"

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1994
ID Number
2011.0183.84
accession number
2011.0183
catalog number
2011.0183.84

button, "Haz el amor con un Condon"

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1990
maker
Gay Men's Health Crisis
ID Number
2011.0183.21
accession number
2011.0183
catalog number
2011.0183.21

Mustargen (mechlorethamine HCl, MSD)

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1990s
maker
Merck Sharp and Dohme
ID Number
2019.0108.21
accession number
2019.0108
catalog number
2019.0108.21

Nurse's Cap

Maria Jayme was born January 14th, 1971 in General Santos City, Philippines and received a nursing degree from the San Pedro College of Nursing in Davao, Philippines in 1991. Maria received this nurse’s cap during the graduation capping ceremony.
Description
Maria Jayme was born January 14th, 1971 in General Santos City, Philippines and received a nursing degree from the San Pedro College of Nursing in Davao, Philippines in 1991. Maria received this nurse’s cap during the graduation capping ceremony. In 1994 she immigrated to the United States and worked as a registered nurse in Florida. Between 1965 and 1988 more than 70,000 foreign nurses came to the United States. 25,000 Filipina nurses provided a critical source of labor for hospitals in New York, New Jersey, Florida, California, Texas, and Massachusetts.
date made
ca 1991
ID Number
2007.0218.01
catalog number
2007.0218.01
accession number
2007.0218

button, "Philadelphia AIDS Walk, October 18, 1998"

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1998
ID Number
2011.0183.77
accession number
2011.0183
catalog number
2011.0183.77

button, "Safer Sex You Should Understand"

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1990
maker
Gay Men's Health Crisis
ID Number
2011.0183.33
accession number
2011.0183
catalog number
2011.0183.33

Cytarabine USP (powder) 100 mg

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1990s
product expiration date
1998-09
maker
Upjohn Company
ID Number
2019.0108.09
catalog number
2019.0108.09
accession number
2019.0108

button, "Philadelphia AIDS Walk '92"

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1992
ID Number
2011.0183.86
accession number
2011.0183
catalog number
2011.0183.86

The N 100PC Blood Pump and Energy Convertor

This version of the N100PC ventricular assist drive without encapsulation shows the inner workings of the pump.
Description
This version of the N100PC ventricular assist drive without encapsulation shows the inner workings of the pump. The N100PC was used in clinical trials between1993 and 2011.
A Ventricular Assist Device (VAD), is a mechanical pump used to partially or completely replace a diseased human heart. Unlike a total artificial heart, the patient’s human heart is left in place, helping the damaged to push blood through the body.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1990
maker
World Heart Corporation
ID Number
2011.0197.08
accession number
2011.0197
catalog number
2011.0197.08
patent number
4,167,046

button, Attitudes Are The Biggest Disability

Pin-back buttons serve many purposes. They are efficient advertising vehicles, handy for fund-raising in support of a cause, concise statements of a person’s beliefs, a form of educational outreach, and convenient ice-breakers for conversation.
Description (Brief)
Pin-back buttons serve many purposes. They are efficient advertising vehicles, handy for fund-raising in support of a cause, concise statements of a person’s beliefs, a form of educational outreach, and convenient ice-breakers for conversation. NMAH has several hundred pin-back buttons related to disability, including this one.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1998
maker
Northern Sun
ID Number
2010.0130.14
catalog number
2010.0130.14
accession number
2010.0130

pin, President's Committee on Mental Retardation

Pin-back buttons serve many purposes. They are efficient advertising vehicles, handy for fund-raising in support of a cause, concise statements of a person’s beliefs, a form of educational outreach, and convenient ice-breakers for conversation.
Description (Brief)
Pin-back buttons serve many purposes. They are efficient advertising vehicles, handy for fund-raising in support of a cause, concise statements of a person’s beliefs, a form of educational outreach, and convenient ice-breakers for conversation. NMAH has several hundred buttons related to disability, including this one. It was created by the President’s Committee on Mental Retardation in 1991 to mark its 25th anniversary. The Committee’s name was changed in 2003 to President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1991
maker
unknown
ID Number
2010.0130.26
catalog number
2010.0130.26
accession number
2010.0130

VePesid (etoposide) for injection 1 gram

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1990s
product expiration date
1997-04
maker
Bristol Laboratories
ID Number
2019.0108.10
catalog number
2019.0108.10
accession number
2019.0108

CeeNU Lomustine (CCNU) 10 mg

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1997
product expiration date
1997-03-01
maker
Bristol Laboratories
ID Number
2019.0108.16
catalog number
2019.0108.16
accession number
2019.0108

Platinol AQ Cisplatin Injection 100 mg

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1996
product expiration date
1996-11
maker
Bristol Laboratories
ID Number
2019.0108.03
catalog number
2019.0108.03
accession number
2019.0108

Mithracin (plicamycin) 2.5 mg

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1990s
product expiration date
1997-06-01
maker
Miles Laboratories
ID Number
2019.0108.07
catalog number
2019.0108.07
accession number
2019.0108

ACT UP/ FIGHT BACK/ FIGHT AIDS; ACT UP 1992

Activists directed much of their rage at the Reagan administration; the president remained largely silent about the epidemic until 1987 when he declared AIDS “public health enemy number one.”Currently not on view
Description
Activists directed much of their rage at the Reagan administration; the president remained largely silent about the epidemic until 1987 when he declared AIDS “public health enemy number one.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1992
ID Number
1992.0621.06
catalog number
1992.0621.06
accession number
1992.0621

Ultra Weiss - die atemberaubende Zahncreme

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
c. 1970 - 1995
c. 1979
date made
ca 1979
maker
Colgate-Palmolive Company
ID Number
1977.0667.15
catalog number
1977.0667.15
accession number
1977.0667

Colgate - der Doppel-Stopper gegen Mundgeruch

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
c. 1995
c. 1970 - 1990
c. 1970 - 1995
c. 1979
date made
1950-1960
ca 1979
maker
Colgate-Palmolive Company
ID Number
1977.0667.17
catalog number
1977.0667.17
accession number
1977.0667

NYC Dept. of Health, Bureau of HIV Program Services Package, Containing 2 LifeStyles Condoms and Lubricant

Condoms came into fashion beause they offered protection against HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.Currently not on view
Description
Condoms came into fashion beause they offered protection against HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1995
expiration date (condom)
1995-12
package maker; provider
City of New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
condom maker
Ansell Healthcare Inc.
lubricant maker
Mayer Laboratories, Inc.
Maker
Burgel, James A.
maker
NYC Department of Health
ID Number
2000.0168.04
catalog number
2000.0168.04
accession number
2000.0168

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