Connecting Health and Natural History: A Failed Initiative at the American Museum of Natural History, 1909–1922.

• Autores: Julie K. Brown
• Localización: American journal of public health, ISSN 0090-0036, Vol. 104, Nº. 10, 2014, págs. 1877-1888
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • In 1909, curator Charles-Edward Winslow established a department of public health in New York City’s American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). Winslow introduced public health as a biological science that connected human health—the modern sciences of physiology, hygiene, and urban sanitation—to the natural history of plants and animals. This was the only time an American museum created a curatorial department devoted to public health. The AMNH’s Department of Public Health comprised a unique collection of live bacterial cultures—a “Living Museum”—and an innovative plan for 15 exhibits on various aspects of health. I show how Winslow, facing opposition from AMNH colleagues, gathered scientific experts and financial support, and explain the factors that made these developments seem desirable and possible. I finish with a discussion of how the Department of Public Health met an abrupt and “inglorious end” in 1922 despite the success of its collections and exhibitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]