Processed by
Robert W. Smith, Laurie Randall
April 24, 2007
Supervised by Dorothy Nicholson
Manuscript and Visual Collections Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269
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VOLUME OF |
37 color slides, 1 folder of photographs |
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COLLECTION |
1975 |
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PROVENANCE: |
Indiana Historical Society exhibit, 1975 |
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RESTRICTIONS: |
Slides may be viewed with assistance of Library staff. |
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COPYRIGHT: |
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REPRODUCTION |
Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained from the Indiana Historical Society. |
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ALTERNATE |
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RELATED |
Indiana Medical History Museum Clipping File, Reference Room Collection |
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ACCESSION |
1975.0820 |
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NOTES: |
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The Indiana Medical History Museum, once called the Old Pathology Building (OPB) began as a result of concern for the mental health care of patients in Indiana. Scientific discoveries in the mid-nineteenth century combined with the criticism of the conditions of mental health facilities in the state led to the building of diagnostic and experimental laboratories in mental hospitals. In 1894 Dr. George F. Edenharter, Superintendent of Central Indiana Hospital for the Insane (later Central State Hospital), proposed that in Indianapolis the medical professions should clinically study the causes and prevention of mental illnesses. Thus in the early 1890s the state Legislature approved funds for the erection of a new 19-room building to house the Pathological Department of the Hospital; and in 1896, the Building opened its doors for its first lectures and laboratory work. Once a state-of-the-art psychiatric teaching and research facility, today it is the oldest free-standing pathology building in the country and houses the Indiana Medical History Museum
The Romanesque Revival-style Building, located on a five acre plot at 3045 W. Vermont Street in Indianapolis, continued as an active center for research and study for 60 years. The facility boasted an eight-tiered, 100-plus seat amphitheatre, laboratories for clinical study, photography, chemistry, histology, bacteriology, an autopsy room, and library, as well as state-of-the-art equipment. In 1908, the Medical College of Indiana and Central College of Physicians and Surgeons, merged with the Indiana University School of Medicine. After Indiana University ceased to use it, the Central Hospital Trustees would have authorized its razing, save for efforts to preserve it as an historic site. The Hospital used it for its own purposes, especially for muscular diseases, until the Indiana Medical History Museum bought it.
In1969 the Board of Directors of the newly formed Indiana Medical History Museum bought the building to preserve the history of early medical work in the state. Both the Hospital and the Museum resisted efforts to change either the appearance or the use of the building since its opening. A wooden refrigerator with two body trays, 147 cane-back chairs, much of the original glassware and penned-in records for visitors to peruse, a speaker tube from the autopsy room to a second floor study where another physician would transcribe the autopsy’s proceedings, a nineteenth century camera used to prepare glass slides, and hundreds of brain specimens displaying various diseases—all these visitors can still see. In the early 21st century, the Museum curators have brought together thousands of books, bodily specimens, instrument, portraits, and, in an adjoining building, a model of a 1950’s doctor’s office, all of which illustrate 19th and 20th century physicians and researchers in their work. In 1972 Old Pathology Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Persons Associated with the Old Pathology Building
Adolph Scherrer (1847-1925), architect for the OPB, was born in St. Gaul, Switzerland, studied in Vienna and Budapest before coming to the U.S. in 1870. After moving to Indianapolis in 1873, Mr. Scherrer collaborated with Edwin May, one of the city’s leading architects, in designing the State House, the Propylaeum, and the entrance to Crown Hill Cemetery with its spiral arches on 34th Street. Many of his buildings still stand. In 1893, he worked in close collaboration with Dr. Edenharter to design the two-story brick OP building with its 19 working rooms plus an amphitheatre, all of which would occupy 4000 sq. ft
Superintendent of the Hospital, Dr. George F. Edenharter (1857-1923), worked closely with architect Sherrer to design the OPB facilities. Born of German parents in Ohio, Edenharter came to Indianapolis in 1878. He graduated from the Physio-Medical College of Indianapolis (1884) an alternative medicine institute, but received his M.D. degree from the Medical College of Indiana in 1886. He worked at a local infirmary and at Indianapolis’ City Hospital before joining the staff of Central Indiana Hospital for the Insane (1893). Under his direction, the OPB was the first in the nation devoted to the research and teaching of, and therapy for, mental and nervous disorders.
Dr. Walter Breutsch, staff pathologist, was called by one writer, “perhaps the most famous of the physicians who taught” at the Hospital and in OPB. He studied in Switzerland and Germany, and immigrated to the US and Indianapolis, joining the staff of Central Hospital in 1924. His study focused on the use of malaria as a treatment for syphilis. He found that malaria does not directly kill the syphilis bacteria but it activates white cell production which then attacks the bacterium. Breutsch was particularly interested in the impact of infectious diseases on the brain’s immune system. Not until late in the twentieth century did pathologists determine how to study the neuroimmunology of the brain. In his later years, Breutsch was appointed a consultant to the U. S. Public Health Service and achieved international stature as a pathologist.
Sources:
Bodenhamer, David J. and Robert G. Barrows, Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994
“Indiana Clipping File,” Indiana State Library, Indianapolis, IN, Indianapolis News (Aug 3, 1960 & May 7, 1971); Indianapolis Star (July 25, 1971), and Indianapolis Star Magazine (July 30, 1978)
Traces (Spring, 2001)
Lipp, Martin J. Medical Landmarks, USA: A Travel Guide (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1991)
Trustees and Superintendent, Central State Hospital, “To the Governor” (Indianapolis: C.E. Pauley and Company, 1948)
The collection contains 37 color slides and 2 black-and-white photographs of the Indiana Medical History Museum, both interior and exterior views. The images were made by the Indiana Historical Society in 1975 for an exhibit on the history of medicine in this state.
The exhibit included photographs copied from IHS collections and dated from circa 1910 to circa 1920 but none of the copies were identified. They were made up of approximately 250 photographs, including 200 color negatives, 50 black-and-white prints, and 37 color slides. The images included interior and exterior photographs of medical facilities in Indiana, and equipment used at those sites. A small number of images were made in operating rooms and showed doctors and nurses performing operations. These copies were removed from the collection and placed in the IHS archives. Only the color slides and 2 black-and-white photographs were retained for this collection.
The two photographs are of the exterior of the building and were taken by Jack Householder. The slides are interior views and show a variety of medical equipment on display in the museum in 1975. They were found numbered and probably relate to a numbering system from the exhibit. The numbers have been retained and the slides are arranged numerically with brief descriptions.
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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Exterior view of museum, photograph taken by Jack Householder 8/5/75 [2 prints] |
Photographs: |
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View through doorway, “Museum” sign in transom glass over doorway |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of stairway with historic register signs on left |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of room, “Anatomical Museum” sign in transoms over two doorways |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of room “Anatomical Museum” shelves with specimens in jars |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of room “Anatomical Museum” wall cases holding two full-size skeletons |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of room “Anatomical Museum” wall cases holding specimen jars and work table set up with jars and pails |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of room ”Anatomical Museum” wall cases holding specimen jars |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of room showing work sinks and counter holding enamel pots and tools |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of room with round wood table and files |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of room with round wood table showing wall of glass bottles and photos of people |
35 mm Slides: |
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“Central State Hospital” sign on unidentified device |
35 mm Slides: |
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Office with desk, landscape and portrait paintings and a photograph of a person on the walls |
35 mm Slides: |
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Office or meeting room with oil portrait of a person on easel and paintings on the wall |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of office or meeting room with two oil portraits of people on the wall |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of hallway with posters on the walls leading to door, sign reading WASHROOM in transom above door |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of hallway with poster labeled Origins of Care for the Mentally Ill in America 1840 leading to door with sign HISTOLOGY in transom |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of room showing open register type of book and shelves |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of speaker tube mounted on wall |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of camera equipment and slide projector |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of LIBRARY sign over doorway |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of Library interior wood desk and card catalogue file drawers |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of Library interior roll top desk and shelf with books |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of Library interior second floor shelves with books |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of poster Dr John Evans 1839–1848 Conceived A Mental Health Care Plan for the State of Indiana |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of interior of room with wooden desks and file drawers |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of wall cabinet with poster |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of wall with shelves holding jars of chemicals |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of walls with shelves of jars and books |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of medical tools |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of medical tools, scales and balance |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of open box labeled Professor Holmgren’s Worsted Test for Color Blindness |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of lab sink and selves with jars |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of tiled work table, inlaid tiles reading 1896 |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of Clinical Laboratory shelves with jars |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of Clinical Laboratory refrigerator |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of Electric Magnet Spring machine |
35 mm Slides: |
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View of high boy roll top wooden desk with inner shelves |
35 mm Slides: |
For additional information on this collection, including a list of subject headings that may lead you to related materials:
1. Go to the Indiana Historical Society's online catalog: http://opac.indianahistory.org/
2. Click on the "Basic Search" icon.
3. Select "Call Number" from the "Search In:" box.
4. Search for the collection by its basic call number (in this case, P0101).
5. When you find the collection, go to the "Full Record" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.