Dr. Winslow’s Badges

Randolph Winslow, M.D. (1852-1937) held a membership in the American Medical Association, Southern Surgical and Gynecological Association, and was a Vice President of the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland.

In these roles, Dr. Winslow travelled to many of the AMA’s annual meetings in cities across the country and collected House of Delegates’ badges from each meeting. We recently found the badges from these trips, which he gave to MedChi before his death in 1937. Each of the badges is distinctive, featuring notable images from each of the cities in which the meetings were held.

San Francisco, California 1923

St. Louis, Missouri 1922

Detroit, Michigan  1916

Minneapolis, Minnesota 1913

Cleveland, Ohio  1934

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania  1931

New Orleans, Louisiana 1932

Detroit, Michigan, 1930

Minneapolis, Minnesota 1928

New Orleans, Louisiana  1920

Atlantic City, New Jersey  1919

Chicago, Illinois  1918

Chicago, Illinois  1918

New York, NY 1917

New York, NY 1917

San Francisco, California  1915

Los Angeles, California  1911

Los Angeles, California 1911

Portland, Oregon 1905 (please note the beaver!)

Atlantic City, New Jersey  1904

No identification

Columbus, Ohio 1899

Milwaukee, Wisconsin  1933

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania  1931

Detroit, Michigan  1930

San Francisco, California  1923 (please note the bear!)

It’s always fun to look through the old strong-boxes in the archives. You never know what treasures you will find!

Getting Booked

One of the things that’s always bothered me is the empty bookcases in the Krause Room. When we de-accessioned our book collection a few years ago, the cases were left bare.

I measured and there were 176 linear feet of shelving that needed to be filled. Not all of it would be filled with books, I wanted to add some artifacts and other items to create vignettes to help illustrate the story of MedChi.

I wandered up to the stacks and selected a range of books. Some were gorgeous old leather-bound tomes, others were foreign-language annuals, and still others were on specific topics.

All of the books had to be dusted and cleaned, using paintbrushes and soft cloths, before we could put them back on the shelves.

It is astonishing to see the beauty of these old books, and to contemplate the craftsmanship that went into making them.

I am a huge fan of marbling techniques and thought that the edges of these pages were particularly gorgeous, as were their covers.

And it’s always fascinating to see the different type-faces and fonts that were used…even on the same books!

Once I finished dusting and cleaning, I started shelving the books.

And shelving…

There’s still a bit to finish up. I am waiting for stands for some of the framed pieces, and some more artifacts from donors.

The Krause Room is really starting to shape up and we should be finished shortly!

What’s Happening Now…

September has been a very busy month, and I wanted to post something before it ends! I am working on several major projects, each with with different components.

First up is refreshing the Krause Room. We have painted it, and if I do say so, it’s looking rather sharp. The new “Turtleback” paint really brings the makes the beautiful trim pop.

When the room was mauve, the contrast between the walls and trim wasn’t as dramatic, and the architectural lines of the woodwork were muted.When we took down the portraits to prep for the painting, I found that the portrait hanging over the fireplace was a special one – even though we still aren’t sure who it is! This little portrait was given to Marcia Noyes by the Faculty, and she left it to MedChi upon her death.

In the 1961 inventory of our paintings, it’s listed as either J.P. or J.R. Smith. But that’s not very much to go on.

I am going to be filling the 176 linear feet (yes, I did measure) of shelves in the reading room. I have selected a range of books from the stacks to include French, German and English medical books, and of course, books that have great bindings. I will also be putting a selection of medical instruments in the shelves, and some “silver” which we recently discovered in an old safe that hadn’t been opened for years!

Speaking of portraits, I have spent hours looking at the 1961 inventory of artwork in preparation for identifying each of them with a museum-style plaque. I am adding the name of the sitter along with the dates, the medium used, the artist and a few lines about the sitter.

The best part of reviewing the 1961 inventory is that I’ve straightened out who some of the portraits are! Stay tuned for the big unveiling of the Krause room – it should be in a week or two!

Another Menu

Most of our menus date back to the 1800’s or the earliest decades of the 1900’s, but here is one that is from the mid-1900’s. It’s from the 30th Annual Meeting of the Society of Neurological Surgeons on June 10, 1949 at the Maryland Club.

In searching our archives, I found a paper crumpled and wrapped around a printing die that was used for the cover of a program.

After I un-crumpled it, and found the die inside, I flattened out the paper and discovered another menu.

In the 40 years between the 1909 menu and this one from 1949, things have changed dramatically. Cigars, cigarettes, wine and liquor are all gone. However, the starter of celery and olives remains.

I cleaned up the print from the die so that we could use it for a current meeting of the Neurological Surgeons, held earlier this summer. The turtle is the Maryland Terrapin and the bird is the Johns Hopkins Blue Jay.

I wonder if olives and celery was a MedChi tradition or whether it was common at one point in time?