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Enjoy This Tour Without Leaving Home
Cyber-tour Examines Historical Medical Sites in Washington,
D.C. Area
The Washington, D.C. area has a rich medical history with many of
its medical institutions originating in the 19th century. Now
history buffs can "tour" many of these places online by clicking on
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/medtour/intro.html.
The tour of 30 sites was prepared by Inci A. Bowman, Ph.D., a
retired medical librarian in Washington, D.C. NLM hosts the tour on
its History of Medicine Division web site.
Many of the facilities of historical medical interest are still
in existence, such as the Clara Barton National Historical Site in
Glen Echo, Maryland. Other spots on the cyber-tour include
lesser-known sites such as the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum
in downtown Alexandria, which opened in 1792 and operated
continuously until 1933. Past customers included George Washington
and Robert E. Lee. It now operates as a museum and has a collection
of more than 8,000 objects including pill rollers, drug mills,
journals and letters. Both of these institutions have their own web
sites, and there are links to them from the cyber-tour.
Many wounded Civil War soldiers were housed in the Washington,
D.C. area, and many of these medical facilities "exist" only on the
cyber-tour. For instance, the Lincoln General Hospital opened in
December 1862 to care for the tremendous number of Civil War
casualties. At its busiest, the hospital complex included 20
pavilions and 25 tent wards. The hospital was taken down after the
Civil War, and its former site is now a residential district.
One of the largest Civil War hospitals was the Armory Square,
located where the National Air and Space Museum stands today. The
1,000-bed hospital had 12 pavilions, overflow tents, and spread out
across the Washington Mall.
A handy area map is also provided to aid you in your tour. |
