Once and Future Web

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The Altair 8800, considered the first personal computer, is on display at "The Once and Future Web." This ad appeared in Byte magazine (1976).

On May 24, 1844, the first official Morse-code telegraphic message - "What hath God wrought" - was transmitted from Washington to Baltimore. God, or some would say technology, hath wrought many dramatic developments since Samuel Morse's terse message traveled that first inter- city wire. The telegraph connected people to the world around them in a way never before possible; the same can be said of the Internet.

The parallel histories of these electronic communications technologies form the basis of a new exhibition, The Once and Future Web: Worlds Woven by the Telegraph and Internet, now on display at the National Library of Medicine. NLM hosted a gala opening Monday, May 21, 2001, and there was electricity in the air! There was the premiere of an uproarious (yet strangely educational!) play, based on the exhibition, in the Lister Hill Auditorium, followed by a reception in the Library's Rotunda. Special guests included Robert F.B. Morse, a Texas judge who is the great great grandson of Samuel F.B. Morse, and Lawrence Roberts, PhD, one of the fathers of the Internet. Dr. Roberts is Chairman and Chief Technology Officer at Caspian Networks, San Jose, California.

"This exhibit is a testament to the vital role communication plays in our lives," notes Donald A.B. Lindberg, MD, Director of the National Library of Medicine. "We live in an amazing time in terms of the speed of technology development but it's important to understand how we got here. Few people realize the telegraph's dramatic impact on commerce, war, societal mores, and health care."

"Telegraphic communication greatly quickened the pace of transmission of health information and improved public health," observes Elizabeth Fee, PhD, Chief of NLM's History of Medicine Division, which created the exhibition. In 1925, an urgent telegraphic message set in motion the famous dog- sled relay that supplied icebound Nome, Alaska with lifesaving diphtheria antitoxin. With a clattering of telegraph keys, reporters sent news of the race to a world suddenly transfixed by the drama in the far north. Telegrams also helped arrange the relay's complex logistics.

Telegraph wires, New York City, 1880s. After Morse demonstrated the electric telegraph in 1844, the rush was on to strong telegraph wires across continents. By the early 2oth century, the telegraph network crossed and linked every landmass except Antarctica. (Photo: Brown Brothers)

The hero of that expedition was Balto, lead dog of the sled team that delivered the medicine. The team's mercy race to Nome is now memorialized in the annual Iditarod dog-sled race. After Balto died in 1933, his body was preserved and is now on permanent display at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. The famous dog's visit to NLM, to be part of this exhibit, marks only the second time he has left his permanent home. "In most tellings of the story, Balto is the dog that saved the city, but the way we tell it, the telegraph deserves a share of the credit," observes Michael Sappol, PhD, one of the exhibition curators. "Almost as soon as it was invented, the telegraph was applied to nearly every conceivable realm of human activity - business, love, war, time standardization, traffic management, weather forecasting, emergency medicine, and disease prevention. But it was never widely accessible to members of the public in the way that the Internet is."

Balto, the telegraph dog. It's Balto, not Sirius, who's the "dog star" of The Once and Future Web. Balto was graciously lent to the exhibition by the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. The telegraph played a pivotal role in his famous race to Nome.

The Internet, to a far greater extent than its predecessor, has revolutionized the field of medicine, bringing such breakthroughs as telemedicine, computer- assisted surgery and the development of massive databases of consumer- friendly medical information. "Never has so much medical information been available to so many for so little a cost," notes exhibition co- curator Hunter Crowther- Heyck, PhD. "The opportunities it brings are truly amazing. But, if the history of the telegraph is any guide, making the most of these opportunities will depend on the choices we make: will we ensure that there is wide access, as with the telephone, or will access be limited, as with the telegraph? Will our rights, such as freedom of speech and the right to privacy, be protected online, or will we live in a network of digital company towns?"

In addition to physical objects, The Once and Future Web features 11 touch-screen interactive stations. These deliver text, images, music, videos and a searchable exhibition library for subjects ranging from Samuel F.B. Morse's original invention to the role that the Internet plays today in delivering medical information to the public. Visitors will also be able to send a Morse-coded message, learn about digitizing and manipulating online images, participate in a virtual conversation with one of the leaders of the Internet community, and see a demonstration of "virtual anatomy."

The exhibition is grouped in four thematic areas: "Networked Worlds," which tells the story of the creation and diffusion of the technologies; "A Part of Our Lives," which describes the many uses and users of the telegraph and Internet; "A Part of Our Dreams," which explores the ways these technologies have changed how we understand ourselves and our world; and "Saved By the Wire," which looks at the medical applications of the telegraph and the Internet. Objects on display include early devices and key documents as well as photographs, cartoons, songs, films and stories.

At the exhibit, you can explore the head of the Visible Human Male.

NLM's Exhibition Team. Are these smiles of triumph or relief, or both? The Library's talented Exhibition Team, shown at the opening of The Once and Future Web. They are (l. to r.): Jiwon Kim, Exhibition Educator; Margaret Hutto, Exhibition Registrar; Michael Sappol, Once and Future Web C0- Curator, Historian; Elizabeth Wood, Exhibition Coordinator; Hunter Crowther-Heyck, Once and Future Web Guest Co- Curator, Historian; Susan Speaker, Exhibition Curator; Kevin Schlesier, Exhibition Coordinator; and Patricia Tuohy, Exhibition Program Manager.

The Internet had its roots in the United States' defense operations. To detect aircraft or missiles arriving by the "polar shortcut," the U.S. built radar stations like this one, in Alaska, Canada and Greenland.