Profile

Eric W. Jentsch

Deputy Chair and Curator
Division of Culture and the Arts

M.A. Museum Studies, George Washington University B.A. English, B.A. History, St. Louis University

Research Specialties 

History of patent medicines, pharmaceuticals, and drugstores, psychology and psychiatry, first-aid and emergency medicine, fraudulent medical devices, and public health.

Projects 

Past Projects:

  • Compiled digital catalog of the Museum's Patent Medicine Collections.
  • Presented lectures on the Roach Drugstore, Washington D.C., the Tupper Pharmacy, Summerville, SC, First-Aid Kits and Emergency Medicine, and the Psychology Collections at the Museum.
  • Collections Manager for The Disability Rights Movement, History through Deaf Eyes, Acupuncture, and Inventing Ourselves exhibitions.
Professional Affiliations 
  • American Institute for the History of Pharmacy
  • American Medical Museums Association
  • European Medical Museums Association

Publications

"The Pharmacy Collections" with Diane L. Wendt. Caduceus. (Winter 1997, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp.33–42).

A brief history of the pharmacy collections at the Smithsonian Institution.