Happy Halloween!

Our resident ghost popped in to trick or treat. We can’t wait to see what she has in store for us.

BOO!

Doors Open Baltimore

The Baltimore Architecture Foundation has invited MedChi to participate in the Second Annual Doors Open Baltimore project. This one-day free event welcomes the public to tour buildings passed by regularly, but not often entered. Under the theme Undiscovered Baltimore, the event will feature sites both hidden from view and hiding in plain sight, along with perennial favorites with secrets of their own.

While MedChi has been in the same location since 1909, not many of the general public have had an opportunity to visit the building. During two tours at 10:00 and 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 24,visitors will be able to view some of MedChi’s collection of historic portraits,

see our collection of medical archives,

and tour our stacks, which are home to more than 55,000 volumes dating to the 1600’s and sometimes, even our ghost, Marcia.

For more information, please check the Doors Open website: here.

Gundry-Glass Hospital

UPDATE: Sadly, this building was a victim of an arson attack and burned in September of 2021. The remains were bulldozed. 

During the early part of the 1900’s, our Medical Journals were filled with advertisements for private sanitariums and convalescent facilities, many of which were located in country environs with plenty of fresh air and green grass.

Several of these facilities were operated by the Gundry family, and most were located in the Catonsville (now Irvington) section of Baltimore, just inside of the city lines.

Dr. Alfred T. Gundry served as the medical superintendent at nearby Spring Grove Hospital from 1878 to 1891 where he was a pioneer in ending the use of mechanical restraints on psychiatric patients. In the late 1800s, he established the Gundry Sanitarium on his family farm

Certainly, his brother, Dr. Richard Gundry had some luminaries associated with his facility, including Dr. Osler!

 

Several weeks ago, Baltimore Heritage, where our History of Maryland Medicine Board Member, Johns Hopkins is the Executive Director, shared some images of the Gundry-Glass house as it is today.

It’s owned by the city, but is abandoned and is being used as a general dumping ground.

There are several out-buildings, and a few years ago, an idea was floated to have a resident care-taker live on the property and make sure that it wasn’t vandalized or used as a dumping ground. The State of Maryland has a resident curator program for properties such as this. The “curator” lives in the house rent-free, and agrees to renovate, maintain and care for the property for the length of the tenancy.

Until it closed in 1997, the property was used as a mental health facility, most recently for children. This property has a long and interesting history, and it’s a shame that it’s been left to fall apart.