THE NEED FOR A NATIONAL MUSEUM OF HEALTH AND MEDICINE C. EVERETT KOOP, M.D. THE COUNCIL OF MEDICAL SPECIALTY SOCIETIES CHICAGO, IL MARCH 3,199O THE NEED FOR A NATIONAL MUSEUM OF HEALTH AND MEDICINE C. EVERETT KOOP, M.D. THE COUNCIL OF MEDICAL SPECIALTY SOCIETIES CHICAGO, IL MARCH 3,199O FOR EIGHT YEARS I HAD AN OFFICE ON THE 7TH FLOOR OF THE HUMPHREY BUILDING FROM THE WINDOWS OF WHICH I COULD LOOK OUT ON THE MALL. TO THE RIGHT WAS THE CAPITAL. FAR TO THE LEFT, IF I GOT WELL OVER TO THE RIGHT I COULD SEE THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT. JUST BEFORE ME WAS THE REFLECTING POOL. IN THE SPRING TIME, WHEN WASHINGTON ATTRACTS LITERALLY MILLIONS OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS MAKING THEIR JUNIOR OR SENIOR TRIPS TO THE NATION'S CAPITAL, I USED TO WATCH THOSE YOUNGSTERS LINE UP OPPOSITE THE REFLECTING POOL ON MARBLE STEPS TO HAVE THEIR PICTURES TAKEN BY A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER. INCIDENTLY, I ALWAYS WONDERED HOW HE GOT THE CONCESSION. WHAT USED TO GO THROUGH MY MIND ON THOSE OCCASIONS WAS NOT THAT MY HIGH SCHOOL NEVER MADE A TRIP TO WASHINGTON. NOT THAT I WASN'T ABLE TO ACCOMPANY SOME OF MY GRANDCHILDREN WHEN THEY CAME. BUT RATHER THAT THOSE YOUNGSTERS, EAGER, IMPRESSIONABLE, AND LOOKING FOR A GUIDING LIGHT IN THEIR LIVES HAD NO OPPORTUNITY IN THE NATION'S CAPITAL TO BE STIMULATED TO ENTER A FIELD OF , HEALTH, OR MEDICINE. INSTEAD THEY WOULD BE STIMULATED TO THINK OF CAREERS IN /VA we ANYTHING FROM THE FBI TO THE#U%@&l OF CURRENCY AND FROM JOINING ONE OF THE ARMED FORCES TO BEING PART OF THE CONQUEST OF SPACE. IN 1981, WHEN I LOOKED OUT ON THE REPETITIVE PHOTO OPPORTUNlTlES THESE YOUNG PEOPLE PROVIDED, THERE WERE NOT A NUMBER OF OTHER INDICATIONS THAT MY CONCERNS WERE LEGITIMATE. SCIENCE TEACHERS ABOUNDED. GRADE SCHOOLS, JUNIOR HIGHS, AND HIGH SCHOOLS HAD NO DIFFICULTY IN FINDING TEACHERS OF BIOLOGY OR HEALTH SCIENCES. MEDICAL SCHOOLS HAD A COMFORTABLE TEN APPLICANTS FOR EVERY SLOT IN THE AGGREGATE CLASSES. BUT THINGS HAVE CHANGED. LAST YEAR WHEN I HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF ACCEPTING AN AWARD FROM THE COUNCIL OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY PRESIDENTS, I WAS STRUCK BY THE FACT 0 FyTzE$9 THAT SO MANY OF THOSE m CAME TO ME AND SHARED THEIR CONCERN OVER THE DIFFICULTIES # THEIR PARTICULAR SCIENTIFIC BODY WAS HAVING IN ATTRACTING PROPER YOUNG PEOPLE TO CARRY ON THE TRADITION. LAST YEAR THREE AMERICAN MEDICAL SCHOOLS ADVERTISED IN IQ Pfw/tAi73 APRIL FOR - TO ENTER MEDICAL SCHOOL WITH THE STUDENTS STARTING IN SEPTEMBER. THIS YEAR THERE ARE NOT TEN BUT 1.6 STUDENTS APPLYING FOR EACH SLOT IN THE AGGREGATE MEDICAL SCHOOLS. IN SHORT, CIRCUMSTANCES HAVE PROVEN THAT MY CONCERN NINE YEARS AGO WAS A LEGITIMATE ONE,THAT CONCERN IS CALLING THOSE OF US IN THE HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONS AND fica LcrdC TO BECOME MORE ACTIVE RECRUITERS. WE HAVE A DIRE NEED TO A'ITRACT YOUNG PEOPLE TO TAKE OUR PLACES. 10 HOW CAN SUCH A STATE OF AFFAIRS IN THE UNITED STATES BE AFFECTED BY ACTIVITY IN THE NATIONS CAPITAL. . LET ME TAKE YOU BACK TO A FEW YEARS BEFORE 1966. THE WEALTHY PHILANTHROPIST, JOSEPH H. HIRSHHORN HAD ACCUMULATED MORE THAN 5500 ART TREASURES AND HAD AN EXTRA MILLION DOLLARS FOR ADDITIONAL ACQUISITIONS TO A MUSEUM. 11 I AM TOLD, ON RELIABLE AUTHORITY, THAT HE PLANNED TO RUN ROUGH-SHOD OVER ANY OPPOSITION TO BUILDING A MUSEUM FOR HIS COLLECTION ON THE MALL. HE ALSO WANTED THE MUSEUM TO BE IN THE SHAPE OF A HUGE BAGEL. ONE WONDERS HOW THE SAME INDIVIDUAL COULD HAVE COLLECTED 5500 WORKS OF ART AND HAVE SUCH REMARKABLE ARCHITECTURAL TASTE. 12 IT WAS ARGUED THAT THE ONLY AVAILABLE SPACE ON THE MALL WAS A TRACT ON INDEPENDENCE AVENUE BETWEEN 7TH AND 9TH STREETS AND EXTENDING THOUGHT TO MADISON DRIVE. ONE WONDERS WHERE THE TERM "AVAILABLE" CAME FROM BECAUSE THAT TRACT WAS OCCUPIED BY WHAT WAS CALLED THE ARMY MEDICAL MUSEUM OR AS IT WAS AFFECTIONATELY KNOWN IN WASHINGTON, "THE OLD RED BRICK BUILDING." 13 STAN>OPE BAYNE JONES, A RETIRED BRIGADIER GENERAL AND MICROBIOLOGIST CONTENDED THAT THE MUSEUM AND ITS RESEARCH CENTER SHOULD NOT BE SEPARATED, THAT THE MOVE WOULD BE COSTLY AND THAT SliCH A MOVE NO MATTER WHERE IT WENT WOULD SHORT CHANGE THE FACILITY AND DELAY RESEARCH PROJECTS. 14 THERE WAS AT THAT TIME A SURGEON, DURWARD G. HALL, SERVING IN CONGRESS AS A REPUBLICAN FROM MISSOURI. HE CONTENDED THAT THE PROPOSED MUSEUM SHOULD NOT BUMP 15 UNFORTUNATELY, THROUGH KEY COMMITTEE MEMBERS, LEGISLATION PROVIDING FOR THE HIRSHHORN MUSEUM TO BE ERECTED AS PLANNED BY THE WHITE HOUSE, B &If ~9%&7 juf 3%5-y/T &J/7& /fw &+Ymaw/72-E CudfficY h"ldhf; S. DILLION RIPLEY, SECRETARY OF THE SMITHSONIAN, UNDER WHOSE JURISDICTION THE MUSEUM WOULD FALL, ARGUED THAT THE SIGHT OF THE RED BRICK BUILDING WAS THE ONLY ONE OF APPROPRIATE SIZE AND LOCATION FOR DISPLAYING THE VALUABLE HIRSHHORN COLLECTION. 16 IN RESEARCHING THIS EPISODE IN WASHINGTON HISTORY, I CAME ACROSS A HAND WRITTEN NOTE ON A DOCUMENT DATED /H 7t4f H-bA+-d JUNE 6TH 1971 SIGNED BY AN UNKNOWN PARTlClPAN>THAT SAID, "I HOPE A WHOLE IN THE EARTH OPENS UP AND SWALLOWS RIPLEY AND HIRSHHORN. 17 I AM IMPRESSED WITH DURWARD HALLpWHOM I NEVER KNEW. ON ONE OCCASION HE SAID, "I HOPE AND PRAY THAT WE DO NOT MAKE THE MISTAKE AT GLORIFYING THE ARTS AT THE EXPENSE OF AN ART ITSELF-MEDICINE-AND I FEEL THAT IS WHAT WOULD k=fw HAPPEN IF WE- THE SPECIFIC SIGHT RECOMMENDATION PROPOSED." 18 AS THE ARGUMENTS HEATED UP BETWEEN 1966 AND 1971, THE HISTORY OF ACTIVITIES IN THE OLD RED BRICK BUILDING WERE BROUGHT TO THE Al-l'ENTlON OF CONGRESS OVER AND OVER 19 SOME OF YOU REMEMBER THE NAME DR. JOHN SFAW BILLINGS, THE SURGEON GENERAL OF THE ARMY AND THE MUSEUM'S FOURTH CURATOR DURING THE YEARS OF 1883 TO 93. HE AMASSED THE WORLD'S LARGEST COLLECTION OF ANTIQUE MICROSCOPES, STILL IN OF THE ARMED FORCES INSTITUTE OF PATHOLOGY. IT WAS DURING THIS PERIOD THAT /tJ OHN SHAW BILLINGS HELPED HERMAN HOLLERITH DEVELOP AN ELECTRICAL SYSTEM TO SORT cp PUNCH DATA CARDS FOR ?HE NATIONAL CENSUS. THIS WAS THE FOREkJNNER OF THE IBM CORPORATlONb CONTRIBUTING TO THE REVOLUTION WE HAVE HAD IN INFORMATION RETRIEVAL IN THIS CENTURY. 20 ANOTHER SYSTEM DEVELOPED BY DR. BILLINGS BECAME THE INDEX MEDICUS, AND THE LIBRARY STARTED BY THE MEDICAL MUSEUM WHICH WAS THE ORIGINAL ARMY SURGEON GENERAL'S LIBRARY DID BECOME THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE. 21 IT WAS ALSO IN THAT BUILDING THAT THE INITIAL EXPERIMENTS -?se- pw-&J WERE DONE ON,$TAINING ANDRHOTOGRAPHIC EQUIPMENT BOTH OF WHICH MADE POSSIBLE MICROBIOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY AS WE KNOW IT TODAY. IN THE EARLY 1900s WALTER REED AND HARRIS ASTERDE P G# GRAMONDE, DISCOVER THE MODE OF YELLOW FEVER TRANSMISSION. THE PANAMA CANAL COULD NOT HAVE BEEN BUILT WITHOUT THAT KNOWLEDGE. 23 NOT LONG AFTER, FREDERICK RUSSELL, MUSEUM CURATOR AT THAT TIME, DEVELOPED A TYPHOID VACCINE THAT PROTECTED -TlrA 7 AMERICAN SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS AGAINST DISEASE DURING AND AFTER WWI. 24 I HAVE AN ESPECIALLY SOFT SPOT IN MY HEART FOR BlLLlkGS BECAUSE IT WAS HIS RECOMMENDATIO~ON THE MARINE ?ldE HOSPITAL SYSTEM THAT LED DIRECTLY TO ESTABLISHMENT OF th THE COMMISSION CORPS OF THE UNITED STATES PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE, WHOSE UNIFORM I WORE WITH PRIDE FOR EIGHT YEARS. 22 NOW I AM NOT OPPOSED TO ART IN ANY WAY AND I AM GLAD THAT JOSEPH HIRSHHORN HAD THE FORESIGHT TO LEAVE HIS TREMENDOUS COLLECTION AND ASSOCIATED FUNDS TO THE UNITED STATES IN ORDER THAT THESE PRECIOUS, UNIQUE OBJECTS COULD BE VIEWED BY ALL OF OUR CITIZENS. 25 1 DON'T EVEN MIND THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE HIRSHHORN ALTHOUGH I DO HAVE A LITTLE DIFFICULTY STOMACHING HIS EXPRESSED DESIRE TO BUILD A HUGE BAGEL ON THE MALL, PARDON THE PUN. WHAT I DO FRET AGAINST IS THE SHORT 26 v THE MEDICAL MUSEUM WAS LOCATED IN FORD'S THEATRE AND IT MOVED IN 1887 TO THE OLD RED BRICK BUILDING, ARCHITECTURALLY DESCRIBED AS ROMANESQUE REVIVAL. THE STRUCTURE HAD BEEN LISTED ON THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC BUILDINGS UNDER THE ANTIQUE ACT OF 1906 BUT THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR .REDEFINED ITS STATUS, CLAIMING IT WAS THE COLLECTION OF MEDICAL SPECIMENS WHICH CONSTITUTED THE BUILDINGS IMPORTANCE, NOT THE BUILDING ITSELF. /B-Lc &F W&iCLf ewJEJ ~bm~ 27 YOU ALL KNOW THAT COLLECTIONS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH ARCHITECTURE LANDMARKS. IT WAS THE PERSONAL URGING OF km 7Af y'/@J~ 4wv LWDON JOHNSONjN 1968 THAT GOT THE SMITHSONIAN OFFICIALS TO ACCEPT AS THE ONLY POSSIBLE SIGHT FOR THE NEW HIRSHHORN MUSEUM AND SCULPTURE GARDEN, A PLACE WHERE THE OLD RED BRICK BUILDING STOOD. 28 THE ORIGINAL ARMY SURGEON GENERAL'S LIBRARY WHICH WAS ALSO HOUSED IN THE FORD THEATRE BECAME THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE AS I'M SURE MOST OF YOU KNOW, ITS COLLECTION OF BOOKS FORMED THE NIDUS AT THE NATIONAL LIBRARIES' ANTIQUE COLLECTION TODAY. 29 FOR NEARLY 80 YEARS THIS BUILDING HOUSED SOME OF THE MOST POPULAR AND OF COURSE BAZAAR EXHIBITS OF WASHINGTON. EVEN TODAY SOME OF THEM STILL ATTRACT THE p/ Ivr') SAME -OF ATTENTION WHERE THEY ARE PRESENTLY HOUSED AT'THE ARMED FORCES INSTITUTE OF PATHOLOGY ON THE GROUNDS OF WALTER REED ARMY MEDICAL CENTER- 31 f J C&+- -Ii-r UUJ # THE BULLET, THE PROBE, AND THE BITS OF SKULL FROM PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S FATAL WOUND. SPEAKING OF ASSASSINATIONS, IT WAS CURATORS OF THE MUSEUM WHO PERFORMED THE AUTOPSY ON PRESIDENT JAMES GARFIELD FOLLOWING HIS ASSASSINATION IN 1881. 32 m BRINGS TO MIND ANOTHER INTERESTING ARCHITECTURAL G/v 7tiE pwh~ CONTROVERSY. THE NATIONAL GALLERY TODAY STANDS ON THE # /\ SITE OF THE OLD BALTIMORE4 POTOMAC RAILROAD STATION. IT WAS IN THE MAIN LOBBY OF THAT STATION THAT PRESIDENT GARFIELD, Iid OFFICE BUT FOUR MONTHS, WAS FATALLY SHOT BY AN ASSASSIN IN JULY OF 1981. 33 I HAPPEN TO THINK THAT IT WAS A GOOD TRADE TO GET THE NATIONAL GALLERY FOR THE RAILROAD STATION BECAUSE IN THE BACK OF THE STATION ITSELF, HANDSOME THOUGH IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN, THERE WAS A TRAIN SHED THAT STRETCHED HALF WAY ACROSS THE MALL AND THERE WERE PILES OF COAL FOR THE ENGINES THAT HAD BECOME A SOURCE OF CONSIDERABLE ANNOYANCE IN WASHINGTON. 34 THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TRADE OFF OF A STATION FOR THE NATIONAL GALLERY AND THE OLD RED BRICK BUILDING FOR THE HIRSHHORN WAS THAT THEY BUILT THE UNION STATION TO SW(b d REPLACE THE BALTIMORE AND POTOMAC. ANYONE WHO HAS SEEN THE REFURBISHED UNION STATION KNOWS THAT IT IS A BUILDING THAT HAS LIFTED STANDARDS FOR RAILROAD STATIONS INTO AN ENTIRELY NEW WORLD. 35 WHEN THE OLD RED BRICK BUILDING WAS RAISED IN 1968 IT WAS ATTRACTING A MILLION VISITORS A YEAR. 36 MiLLION VISITORS A YEAR COME NOW TO WASHINGTON AND WHO KNOWS HOW MANY OF THEM MIGHT HAVE BEEN ATTRACTED BY AN UPDATED SERIES OF EXHIBITS? WE KNOW THAT IT WOULD BE MORE THAN A MILLION, DON'T WE? 36 THE SAD FACT IS THAT LAST YEAR FEWER THAN 40,000 VISITORS FOUND THEIR WAY TO THE SITE OF THE PRESENT MUSEUM HOUSED IN THE BUILDING OCCUPIED BY THE ARMED FORCES INSTITUTE OF PATHOLOGY ON THE GROUNDS OF THE WALTER REED ARMY MEDICAL CENTER. YOU REALLY HAVE TO BE MOTIVATED TO JOURNEY NORTH ON GEORGIA AVENUE TO GET THE AFIP. 37 IF YOU LIKE NUMBERS LISTEN TO THESE. THERE ARE STORED IN VARIOUS PLACES AROUND TOWN 325,000 HISTORICAL OBJECTS, 15,000 ANATOMICAL SPECIMENS, AND 2.2 MILLION ARCHIVAL PHOTOS, FILMS, AND DOCUMENTS. THE VALUE OF THE COLLECTION IS NEARLY HALF A BILLION DOLLARS. LESS THAN 2% OF THE COLLECTION IS ON DISPLAY DUE TO LACK OF SPACE IN THE CURRENT FACILITY. 38 LET IT BE SAID THAT IT WAS NOT JUST THE DISLOCATION OF EXHIBITS THAT WAS DISHEARTENING, IT IS THE FACT THAT IN 1968, IN AN ABSOLUTELY UNPRECEDENTED ACTION, AT TIMES I THINK RATHER SLEAZY IN CHARACTER, THAT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE LOST THEIR NATIONAL HEALTH MUSEUM. 39 IN THE NEW SITE AS YOU MIGHT IMAGINE SPACE WAS LOST, STAFF WAS LOST, EXHIBITS AND COLLECTIONS DETERIORATED, VISITORS DECLINED IN NUMBER. IT IS INDEED SAD THAT 90% OF PC THE COLLECTIONS ARE FUNCTIONALLY INi#fCESSABLE TO /WDKPL PHYSICIANS, SCIENTISTS, AND SCHOLARS IN RESEARCH OR TO \ THE PUBLIC FOR EXHIBITION AND EDUCATION. 40 I DON'T MEAN TO IMPLY THAT THE MUSEUM IS IDLE. OUR AIDS EDUCATION EXHIBIT WON THE FIRST PLACE AWARD FROM THE ASSOCIATION OF MEDICAL ILLUSTRATORS. MORE RECENTLY WE EXHIBITED ART WQRK BY HEADACHE SUFFERERS SPONSORED BY THE SAND02 COMPANY. THAT COLLECTION IS NOW ON LOAN, - TRAVELLING ABOUT THE COUNTRY. FINALLY WE HELPED CHANGE THE NOTION OF HOW BONES HEAL THANKS TO THE RESEARCH ON THE MUSEUM SKELETAL COLLECTI'ON. 41 CURRENT EFFORTS PROJECTED FOR THE NEAR FUTURE INCLUDE. THE MOVING THE AIDS EXHIBIT DOWN TO THE HUBERT HUMPHREY BUILDING WHICH HOUSES HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, WORKING WITH THE PAN AMERICAN HEALTH ORGANlZATiON TO PRODUCE A TRAVELLING EXHIBIT ON HEALTH AND MEDICINE IN THE NEW WORLD FOR THE COLUMBUS QUINCENTENNIAL IN 1992, AND BUILDING A HIGH TECH, VISUALLY ORIENTED, EDUCATIONAL EXHIBIT ON SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION INCLUDING ALCOHOL, DRUGS AND TOBACCO AIMED AT KIDS, TEENS, YOUNG ADULTS. 42 AS YOU MIGHT IMAGINE, WHEN I LEFT THE OFFICE OF - SURGEON GENERAL- I HAD INNUMERABLE REQUESTS TO DO WHAT MIGHT BE CONSIDERED A CONTINUATION OF MY PUBLIC SERVICE. I ACCEPTED VERY FEW SUCH OPPORTUNITIES BUT I DID WANT TO BE INVOLVED WITH THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF HEALTH AND MEDICINE. 43 VVHEN THE OPPORTUNITY CAME TO CHAIR THE FOUNDATION'S /fg7 Qfcfi d6ti Nftibffd, ;;:;es, BOARD I JUMPED AT IT. I'M JOINED BY PEOPLE LIKEnTED 0 r- IJ tJ -r; COOPER, FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND NOW CHAIRMAN OF UPJOHN, DR. CAROLYNE DAVIS, NATIONAL AND i5rw~~ (i INTERNATIONAL HEALTH CARE ADVISOR FOR m YOUNG, w YOU WILL RECALL SHE CAME IN WITH THE REAGAN ADMINISTRATION AS THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE HEALTH CARE FINANCING ADMINISTRATION. 44 I ENVISION A MUSEUM THAT IS GOING TO BE MORE THAN A CURIO CABINET SUCH AS WE HAD IN THE 19TH CENTURY. I WANT A STATE OF THE OF THE ART, INTERACTIVE, AND PARTICIPATIVE MUSEUM THAT WILL EXCITE KIDS TO DEDICATE THEIR LIVES TO MEDICINE AND HEALTH CARE. 45 WE'RE JUST AT THE STAGE OF GETTING PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND THE NEED. OUR 1990 GOAL IS $350,000 DOLLARS. WE RAISED $125,000 DOLLARS IN 1989. WE ARE PLEASED THAT SOME MAJOR DONORS HAVE CONTRIBUTED $10,000 OR MORE /+m$) INCLUDE THE COLLEGE OF AMERICAN PATHOLOGISTS, THE AMERICAN REGISTRY OF PATHOLOGY, JOHNSON & JOHNSON, THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, HOFFMAN-LAROCHE, AND /=bQC@iK TJa!wa fl OF PFfP COLONEL & MRS. MCMiKIN WITH A MATCH FROM IBM. 4 46 I ENVISION A MUSEUM WITH ALL THE OLD THINGS THAT YOU WANTED TO SEE STILL THERE, BUT WITH AT LEAST FOUR INTERACTIVE EXHIBIT CLASSROOMS. THESE WILL BE IN SIMULTANEOUS USE, USING INTERACTIVE VIDEO DISCS AND COMPUTERS ENABLING A PROPER TEACHER TO CALL UP AS MANY AS 64,000 EPISODES, TO ILLUSTRATE HIS TEACHING WITH A DELAY OF NO LONGER THAN 10 SECONDS. DO YOU THINK I AM ENTHUSIASTIC, I AM. IF YOU THINK I WANT YOU TO JOIN WITH ME, I DO. LETS STRIKE A BLOW FOR HEALTH AND CORRECT THE INJUSTICES OF THE PAST. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. 48