{"id":1873,"date":"2015-07-30T14:08:29","date_gmt":"2015-07-30T18:08:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dittrickmuseumblog.com\/?p=1873"},"modified":"2017-10-26T10:30:09","modified_gmt":"2017-10-26T14:30:09","slug":"embracing-digital-history-how-medicine-became-modern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/dittrick\/2015\/07\/30\/embracing-digital-history-how-medicine-became-modern\/","title":{"rendered":"Embracing Digital History: How Medicine Became Modern"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align:left\"><em>Brandy L. Schillace<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\">What was it like to be sick 50 years ago? 150 years ago?<br \/>\nWhat medical innovations most changed American lives?<br \/>\nHow did Cleveland rise to importance as a medical city?<br \/>\n<em>In other words:<\/em><br \/>\n<strong>How did we get here?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<style>\n\t\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\t\twidth: 25%;\n\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\t\tmax-width:100%;\n\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-1873 gallery-columns-4 gallery-size-thumbnail'>\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2015\/07\/25105113\/2.jpg'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2015\/07\/25105113\/2-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2015\/07\/25105113\/2-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2015\/07\/25105113\/2-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2015\/07\/25105113\/2.jpg 330w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2015\/07\/25105114\/4.jpg'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2015\/07\/25105114\/4-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2015\/07\/25105114\/4-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2015\/07\/25105114\/4-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2015\/07\/25105114\/4.jpg 330w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\t\t\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\t\t\t\tjQuery( document ).ready(function() {\n\t\t\t\t\tjQuery(\"#gallery-1\").justifiedGallery({\n\t\t\t\t\t\trowHeight: 150,\n\t\t\t\t\t\tmaxRowHeight: 150,\n\t\t\t\t\t\tmargins: 1\n\t\t\t\t\t});\n\t\t\t\t});\n\t\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>The Dittrick Medical History Center and Museum<strong>,<\/strong> in collaboration with design partners and funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, presents: <strong><em>How Medicine Became Modern<\/em><\/strong>, an innovative new way to explore the artifacts, people, and stories behind the great innovations of our age!<\/p>\n<p>Museums nationally and internationally are reaching new audiences\u2014while retaining and engaging present ones\u2014through the medium of digital technology. The Philadelphia Museum of Art presented inter-actives for <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.philamuseum.org\/exhibitions\/795.html\">Treasures of Korea<\/a><\/em>; the Field Museum of Chicago showcased a 3D exhibit about <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fieldmuseum.org\/at-the-field\/exhibitions\/sue-t-rex\">Tyrannosaurus<\/a> bones; the British Museum of London installed 3D touch-activated Explorer Tables allowing virtual autopsy of a mummy. More locally, the Cleveland Museum of Art opened the award-winning <a href=\"http:\/\/www.clevelandart.org\/gallery-one\">Gallery One<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Now, the Dittrick Museum embarks on a project to make history come to life through a 10ft by 4ft interactive digital wall&#8211;a place where visitors can &#8220;handle&#8221; artifacts (rotating <a href=\"http:\/\/bluecadet.com\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-1885  alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/dittrick\/files\/2015\/07\/bc-logo_lg.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"BC-Logo_LG\" width=\"214\" height=\"171\" \/><\/a>and zooming), and more importantly, a place to engage with the human stories behind them. Partnering with Zenith Systems and Bluecadet, and supported by NEH&#8217;s Museums Libraries &amp; Cultural Organizations grant, <em>How Medicine Became Modern <\/em>will go live in 2017!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Exhibit Details:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"padding-left:30px\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dittrickmuseumblog.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/07\/6.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-1884 size-medium alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/dittrick\/files\/2015\/07\/6-e1438271144935.png?w=300\" alt=\"6\" width=\"300\" height=\"255\" \/><\/a><\/strong>Free-standing 10ftx4ft wall in the main gallery<\/li>\n<li style=\"padding-left:30px\">Ability to zoom, rotate, interact with artifacts<\/li>\n<li style=\"padding-left:30px\">Links to the stories behind artifacts\/Access to interactive game-play<\/li>\n<li style=\"padding-left:30px\">Four lenses into medical history:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/dittrick\/files\/2015\/07\/hmbm.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-large wp-image-1883\" src=\"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/dittrick\/files\/2015\/07\/hmbm.jpg?w=660\" alt=\"HMBM\" width=\"660\" height=\"322\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<strong>Want to hear more?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>How would something like this work? Why would a museum want to take part in digital mediums? The 225th anniversary of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.collegeofphysicians.org\/library\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">College of Physicians of Philadelphia Historical Medical Library<\/a> (also the parent body of the M\u00fctter Museum) asked these very questions in 2013. The answer? Museums and libraries must see new ways of engaging the public&#8211;and of building community. As I say in an essay for <a href=\"https:\/\/networks.h-net.org\/node\/9782\/discussions\/12458\/museums-and-muse-future-collections-digital-age\">H-Sci-Med-Tech<\/a>, History\u2014far from being lost in the past\u2014is by these means coming out to meet new friends. The story of medicine\u2019s past offers something valuable to medicine\u2019s future, a new way of interfacing between worlds that is both physical and digital, then and now. We enter the story through these public spaces, and through digital mediums, medical collections around the world are beginning to reach beyond them as well. What we see is a convergence of exhibit, interaction, and digital outreach.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"color:#ff6600\"><strong>A Practical Example from the Project:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1576\" style=\"width: 215px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2015\/06\/25104921\/6ea004276c9ffeffcb2e1f86eef5.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1576\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1576\" src=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2015\/06\/25104921\/6ea004276c9ffeffcb2e1f86eef5.jpg?w=205\" alt=\"L0057592 Fowler's phrenological head, Staffordshire, England, 1879-18 Credit: Science Museum, London. Wellcome Images images@wellcome.ac.uk http:\/\/wellcomeimages.org Lorenzo Niles Fowler\u0092s (1811-96) detailed system of phrenology is shown on this phrenological head. Phrenologists believed that the shape and size of various areas of the brain (and therefore the overlying skull) determined personality. For instance, the area under the right eye relates to language and verbal memory; the desire for foods and liquids was thought to be located in front of the right ear.  Fowler\u0092s system, based on his thirty years of research throughout the world, was just one of many. He was an American phrenologist who led a revival in phrenology after its decline in the 1850s. In 1860, Fowler emigrated with his family to the United Kingdom and set upon an ambitious lecture tour. In 1887, Fowler set up the British Phrenological Society, which finally disbanded in 1967. maker: Unknown maker Place made: Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom made: 1879-1896 Published:  -  Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons Attribution only licence CC BY 4.0 http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\" width=\"205\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2015\/06\/25104921\/6ea004276c9ffeffcb2e1f86eef5.jpg 393w, https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2015\/06\/25104921\/6ea004276c9ffeffcb2e1f86eef5-205x300.jpg 205w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 205px) 100vw, 205px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1576\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fowler&#8217;s phrenological head, Staffordshire, England, 1879-18<br \/>\u00a0Science Museum, London.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The history of medicine offers much more than static displays or old tech. Each object, from a cast of Joseph Lister&#8217;s hand to a full-scale working x-ray machine, tells a tale of personal tragedy and triumph, of success and failure, of hopes and dreams.<\/p>\n<p>Take, for instance, the phrenology bust. Sleek, smooth&#8211;replicas are attractive enough to show up on end-tables and mantle pieces. But what&#8217;s the story? It&#8217;s about <em>Diagnosing by the Bump! <\/em><\/p>\n<p>Franz-Joseph Gall (1758-1828), proposed that different functions, such as memory, language, emotion, and ability, were situated in specific \u201corgans\u201d of the brain. These portions of the brain would grow or shrink with use, and the changes would appear as bumps or depressions on the skull. Called Phrenology, the practice of \u201creading\u201d the bumps supposedly allowed a practitioner to assess different abilities and personality traits. Does that make sense? What might our own phrenological assessment look like? The digital display allows the viewer to see a chart with interactive sections of the brain. Why not do your own &#8220;reading&#8221;?<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1890\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2015\/07\/25105122\/img_6008.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1890\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1890\" src=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2015\/07\/25105122\/img_6008.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"William Cowper. 1737. The anatomy of humane bodies\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2015\/07\/25105122\/img_6008.jpg 2448w, https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2015\/07\/25105122\/img_6008-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2015\/07\/25105122\/img_6008-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2015\/07\/25105122\/img_6008-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2015\/07\/25105122\/img_6008-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2015\/07\/25105122\/img_6008-572x572.jpg 572w, https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2015\/07\/25105122\/img_6008-500x500.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1890\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">William Cowper. 1737. The anatomy of humane bodies<\/p><\/div>\n<p>But that&#8217;s not the only story. Phrenology resonated with the <em>American Dream. <\/em>Johann Kaspar Spurzheim (1776-1832) arrived to begin a speaking tour, and found a very willing audience. Why? It fit the \u201cAmerican Dream\u201d idea of rising from nothing, emphasizing the ability to train the mind and attain social mobility. In other words, despite the bumps you were born with, we could all get better, a kind of rags-to-riches idea very popular even today. One of Cleveland\u2019s own doctors had his \u201chead examined\u201d\u2014Jared Potter Kirtland. On the other hand, phrenology and it&#8217;s sister pseudoscience physiognomy had a dark side; they privileged one race, one class, and one sex. Not exactly a &#8220;dream&#8221; of equality. (And for the record, Kirtland did not apparently agree with the reading; the booklet has his marginal notes!) The digital display offers the visitor a window in time; they can see the images and texts (and hand written notes!) while learning about larger ethical dilemmas.<\/p>\n<p>Phrenology was later abandoned and its practitioners were attacked as charlatans and fakes. Even so, phrenology helped to move psychological understanding forward in two important ways: 1. it suggested that different parts of the brain did different things and 2. It demonstrated that individual effort could be just as, if not more, important than biological inheritance. The take-away? Through digital means, the visitor doesn&#8217;t just see the bust in a cabinet. Instead, he or she can look at it closely, from all angles, and then walk through time.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1891\" style=\"width: 235px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2015\/07\/25105125\/fullsizerender1.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1891\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1891\" src=\"https:\/\/artscimedia.case.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2015\/07\/25105125\/fullsizerender1.jpg?w=225\" alt=\"Johann Heinrich Oesterreicher. 1879. Atlas of human anatomy\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1891\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Johann Heinrich Oesterreicher. 1879. Atlas of human anatomy<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Better yet, the visitor can walk through the body\u2014through anatomies and flip books of fugitive sheets (where each layer reveals more of the anatomy underneath). So much of our fragile history remains out of reach for visitors&#8211;but digital humanities\/history projects can do much more than show the item itself. It can open up that artifact as a window into another time, another place.<\/p>\n<p>We look forward with great anticipation to bringing this digital history\/digital humanities project to life&#8211;the human story behind medical history: &#8220;How Medicine Became Modern.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>ABOUT THE BLOGGER<br \/>\n<\/strong>Brandy Schillace, PhD, works as Research Associate and Public Engagement Fellow for Dittrick Museum. She is also a freelance fiction and non-fiction writer, lecturer, blogger, and the managing editor of a medical anthropology journal, <em>Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry<\/em>. View her recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=2&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=0CCQQtwIwAWoVChMIiKOjhNiFxwIVRooNCh30Bgy9&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DGWUipOjXfow&amp;ei=n5S7VcjXBsaUNvSNsOgL&amp;usg=AFQjCNHupaAnLzy6gP924qfWTgcd_vr6lw&amp;sig2=AYnMG7DaAFftk2E7Lh-s5g&amp;bvm=bv.99261572,d.eXY\">TEDx<\/a> talk on the history of medicine and &#8220;steampunk,&#8221; featuring artifacts from the museum!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align:left\"><em>Brandy L. Schillace<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\">What was it like to be sick 50 years ago? 150 years ago?<br \/>\nWhat medical innovations most changed American lives?<br \/>\nHow did Cleveland rise to importance as a medical city?<br \/>\n<em>In other words:<\/em><br \/>\n<strong>How did we get here?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Dittrick Medical History Center and Museum<strong>,<\/strong> in collaboration with design partners and funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, presents: <strong><em>How Medicine Became Modern<\/em><\/strong>, an innovative new way to explore the artifacts, people, and stories behind the great innovations of our age!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/dittrick\/2015\/07\/30\/embracing-digital-history-how-medicine-became-modern\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading&#8230; <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Embracing Digital History: How Medicine Became Modern<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[429,111,131,92],"tags":[337,338,339,340,341,320,342],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/dittrick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1873"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/dittrick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/dittrick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/dittrick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/dittrick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1873"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/dittrick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5712,"href":"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/dittrick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1873\/revisions\/5712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/dittrick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/dittrick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsci.case.edu\/dittrick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}