In case you missed last week’s John Shaw Billings History of Medicine talk by Wendy Kline, “Exposed: The Hidden History of the Pelvic Exam”, cosponsored by the John Shaw Billings History of Medicine Society, IU School of Medicine Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, IU School of Medicine History of Medicine Student Interest Group, IUPUI Medical Humanities & Health Studies Program, and the Ruth Lilly Medical Library, you can still catch the lecture recording and presentation slides in the online archives.

• The recording of the talk can be viewed in IU Media Collections Online: https://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/media/m80h83t87d
• The presentation slides are available in IUPUI ScholarWorks: https://hdl.handle.net/1805/38565

Please Consider Joining the John Shaw Billings History of Medicine Listserv:  If you are not already a subscriber and are interested in receiving announcements about future events sponsored by the John Shaw Billings History of Medicine Society, please consider subscribing to our listserv (johnshawbillings-l@list.iu.edu). To subscribe to the list, send an email message to johnshawbillings-l-subscribe@iu.edu  (leaving the subject and body of the message blank). You will then receive an automated message from the listserv that includes a confirmation link. Follow the link to confirm your subscription. After confirming your subscription, you should receive a welcome message.

More about the John Shaw Billings History of Medicine Society and the History of Medicine Student Interest Group can be found at: https://library.mednet.iu.edu/history-of-medicine/

“History of Medicine Book of the Week” is a series featuring blog posts written by students in the course, HIST H364/H546: The History of Medicine and Public Health (Instructor: Elizabeth Nelson, School of Liberal Arts, Indiana University, Indianapolis). The following post is the first in the Spring 2024 series.

Woman, and Her Diseases: From Cradle to the Grave, Adapted Exclusively to Her Instruction in the Physiology of Her System, And All the Diseases of Her Critical Periods (1847), Dr. Edward H. Dixon

By Victoria Bozinovski

Painting. A Clinical Lesson at the Salpêtrière by Pierre Aristide André Brouillet. Descartes University in Paris (Museum of the History of Medicine), 1887. [1]

The Victorian Era was an interesting time to be a woman. The male perspective ruled and had been ruling for quite some time, especially in medicine, leaving women little space to voice their health concerns. The idea of a woman was often simplified to a hysterical creature in need of a husband and domestic duties to keep her in check. This perspective can be seen in Woman, and Her Diseases, a book by Dr. Edward H. Dixon, an American surgeon. Dixon was born on December 31, 1808, in New York City, NY, with works published from 1842 to 1893 [2].

This volume is a gynecological text that describes the different illnesses a woman can experience, and though the title promises from the cradle to the grave, the text is focused predominantly on childbearing years. Its chapters are divided into individual disorders, in which the typical symptoms are listed, paired with details of how these symptoms are best to be handled by the family and physicians. No, not by the woman herself – that would be absurd – but by others, primarily the men in her life.

Before delving any further into the text’s viewpoints, we must consider its context. Woman, and Her Diseases was published in 1851, an era of transition away from miasma and humoral theories of medicine, toward germ theory. These older practices were often paired with the concept of how moral character influenced one’s health, traces of which can be seen in this. However, the book also demonstrated a distinctly clinical approach to the observation of women’s ailments; therefore, for the period, it did its best to apply an objective and clinical perspective to the phenomena occurring in a woman’s body. This makes it uniquely reliable for the time. Dr. Dixon was more known for his dissident views on medicine in general, rather than for his gynecological work, so it was not a very remarkable piece. Dixon stated in the opening passage that his intention in writing Woman, and Her Diseases was “affording woman the means of instructing herself” about her body. He went as far as dedicating the book to “the mothers among my countrywomen.” Dixon claimed the need for this text was to inform women so that they could remain happy and healthy [3].

However, Dr. Dixon viewed women as inferior to men and physicians – which were often the same. Despite dedicating the work and its purpose to the direct education of women about their bodies, Dixon never acknowledged women directly as the readers of the material. For example, in the chapter on hysteria, Dixon explains that the family of the afflicted should physically restrain the woman as a method of preventing a hysterical “attack” [4]. He explains further: in the case of an emergency, a “candid physician will freely communicate to some intelligent member of the family” how to handle the woman’s fits [5]. This assumes that a woman is unable to control herself during a fit of hysteria, and that physicians and family members should step in. This stripped woman of their agency.

There is also a lack of consistency in the symptoms Dixon applied to the condition of hysteria. Most of the other diagnoses he described had clinical support: in the chapter that addressed leukorrhea, i.e. vaginal discharge, he provided clear explanation of the cause of the disease (overproduction of vaginal mucus) and the pathology of the organ structures involved (blood vessels of and around the mucosal membranes of the vagina). Hysteria, on the other hand, had “an infinite variety of symptoms” that only someone who has seen the disease manifested in a large number of individuals can pinpoint. This makes hysteria less clinical and more socially constructed. Many female historians agree that the “Victorian Era was characterized by incomplete, conflicting, or erroneous information about female health and reproduction”[6]. This work was unremarkable but may help to convey a viewpoint of women and their ailments during this era common among doctors like Dixon.

Using works such as Woman, and Her Diseases, we can piece together the overarching historical trends of medicine to inform our treatment of patients moving forward. Since women have historically been ignored and misunderstood, it is important to actively try to correct those biases as we seek to improve medical practices. This will not only limit the clinical mistakes that negatively impact women, but will also help women to have a stronger voice in medicine, as doctors, patients, and participants.

References:
[1] Harris JC. A Clinical Lesson at the Salpêtrière. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2005;62(5):470–472. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.62.5.470
[2] Kaufman, Martin. “Edward H. Dixon and Medical Education in New York.” New York History 51, no. 4 (Jul 01, 1970): 395. https://ulib.iupui.edu/cgi-bin/proxy.pl?url=http://search.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/edward-h-dixon-medical-education-new-york/docview/1297198678/se-2
[3] Dixon, Edward H. Woman, and her Diseases, from the Cradle to the Grave: Adapted Exclusively to her Instruction in the Physiology of her System, and all the Diseases of her Critical Periods. New York: Charles H. Ring, 1847. https://resource.nlm.nih.gov/67020040R
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Newman, Louise Michele. “Health, Sciences, and Sexualities in Victorian America.” In A Companion to American Women’s History, edited by Nancy A. Hewitt, 206-24. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2005.

The Ruth Lilly Medical Library is pleased to announce a new addition to the History of Medicine Collection that is now open for research.

Arthrotek product literature for a meniscus screw (rlml-005-er-000001)

The Stephen B. Trippel Total Joint Replacement Orthopedic Surgery Collection (4 linear feet, 9.6 gigabytes of digital files) consists of materials relating to total joint replacement and other orthopedic surgery procedures and includes brochures, advertisements, and surgical templates published by various medical device companies, as well as continuing medical education materials demonstrating orthopedic surgery products and techniques. Several of the medical device companies represented in the collection were previously (DuPuY, founded by Revra DuPuy in 1895) or are currently (Zimmer Biomet, founded 1927 by Justin O. Zimmer) headquartered in northern Indiana.

These materials were collected by Stephen B. Trippel, M.D. between 1975 and 2017 and generously donated to the library in 2021. Dr. Trippel joined the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Indiana University School of Medicine in 2001, where he served as chair of the department until 2003. His clinical practice as an orthopedic surgeon at Roudebush VA Medical Center and Eskenazi Health focused on adult reconstructive surgery, and his research centered on musculoskeletal repair. Dr. Trippel retired in 2019 and was named Professor Emeritus of Orthopaedic Surgery and Anatomy and Cell Biology.

A detailed descriptive finding aid for the collection can be viewed in IU Archives Online: https://archives.iu.edu/catalog/VAE2995

About the History of Medicine Collection

The Ruth Lilly Medical Library’s History of Medicine Collection supports the research, learning, and educational success of Indiana University students, faculty, and community members by collecting, preserving, interpreting, and providing access to unique materials documenting the history of medicine; medical education, training, research, and practice; and health and disease treatment and prevention in the state of Indiana and beyond within the global context of the Western medical tradition.

The History of Medicine Collection is located on the third floor of the Ruth Lilly Medical Library (Room 307) and is open by appointment only (Monday-Friday, 10:00am-4:00pm). Research appointments and classes can be scheduled by contacting medlref@iu.edu.

The Ruth Lilly Medical Library welcomed Em Bennett to the RLML team as the new Administrative Assistant a few weeks after the start of the 2023 Fall Semester. Em studied technical writing and DEI leadership at IU. She comes to us from the School of Nursing where she worked as the Administrative Assistant to the Dean for 2 years. Em has been a great asset to the library already, organizing everything from our winter holiday charity drive to our digital files. Welcome Em!

What is your position at the Ruth Lilly Medical Library?  I am the administrative assistant and I’m working on putting together our DEI group once again!

How long have you been working at the library?  3 months

What do you like most about your job or the library?  I like how open the job is to accepting new tasks and procedures.

What is your favorite food/favorite place to eat? Zionsville Pizzeria!

Where is your favorite place to travel? I only ever go to Michigan to visit my family sometimes.

If you could witness any historical event, what would it be and why? I wish I could’ve seen the Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage. I was unable to access the internet or TV at the time.

What is one item on your bucket list? Go on a vacation somewhere besides Indiana!

If you were to write a book about yourself, what would the title be? The Inner Machinations of My Mind are an Enigma 👻.

Congratulations to Ruth Lilly Medical Library Circulation Supervisor and IU MLIS Candidate, Cantron “Tré” Quarles! Tré was recently awarded the American Library Association’s 2024 Lois Ann Gregory-Wood (LAGW) Fellowship.

Winning the LAGW Fellowship adds to Quarles’ long list of accomplishments. He serves as Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis’ (IUPUI) Staff Council Representative (2022-23). He was the recipient of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association’s (BCALA) Breaking Barriers Grant (2022), the Leadership, Activism, and Academic Excellence Award (2018), the John T. Neighbours Medallion & Scholarship (2014), and the Carson Scholar Award (2013).

More about this award can be found at: https://www.ala.org/news/member-news/2023/11/cantron-m-quarles-selected-2024-lois-ann-gregory-wood-fellow

CONGRATULATIONS TRÉ!!!

In case you missed any of the amazing guest speakers who participated in the Fall 2023 John Shaw Billings History of Medicine Fall Lecture Series, here is a list of links to the materials from each lecture:

• October 3: IU’s Jim Brokaw presented “Beneath the Scalpel: Exploring the Dark Chapters in the History of Body Procurement”
  • The recording of the talk can be viewed in IU Media Collections Online: https://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/media/692t156n7d
  • Presentation slides are available in IUPUI ScholarWorks: https://hdl.handle.net/1805/36144

• September 28: Michelle Daniel Jones and IUI Medical Humanities and Health Studies professor Elizabeth A Nelson presented “Medicine, Sexuality, and Indiana Women’s Prison History”
  • Their new book, Who Would Believe a Prisoner? Indiana Women’s Carceral Institutions, 1848-1920 (The New Press, 2023) is available now.

• September 22: Chris Flook presented: “A Famine of Cadavers: Indianapolis Graverobbing in 1902”
  • The recording of the talk can be viewed in IU Media Collections Online: https://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/media/237h73x38q
  • Presentation slides are available in IUPUI ScholarWorks: https://hdl.handle.net/1805/35764

Please Consider Joining the John Shaw Billings History of Medicine Listserv:  If you are not already a subscriber and are interested in receiving announcements about future events sponsored by the John Shaw Billings History of Medicine Society, please consider subscribing to our listserv (johnshawbillings-l@list.iu.edu). To subscribe to the list, send an email message to johnshawbillings-l-subscribe@iu.edu  (leaving the subject and body of the message blank). You will then receive an automated message from the listserv that includes a confirmation link. Follow the link to confirm your subscription. After confirming your subscription, you should receive a welcome message.

More about the John Shaw Billings History of Medicine Society and the History of Medicine Student Interest Group can be found at: https://library.mednet.iu.edu/history-of-medicine/

Ruth Lilly Medical Library’s Business manager, Angi Hill, attended the IU School of Medicine Business Manager Retreat last week and returned with some fresh ideas. Business Manager team members from across the 9 campuses gathered on the beautiful IU Bloomington campus for their annual meeting.

Attendees spent most of their time meeting at the Indiana University Memorial Union. They began their day meeting with Dr. Katherine Hiller, Regional Director and Associate Dean for IUSM Bloomington. Dr. Hiller shared information about the School of Medicine at the Bloomington campus and how they impact the students on their campus. It was inspiring to hear about the growth that they have had and are anticipating. The team also had the opportunity to hear from Colleen O’Brian with her LCME updates and the timeline for applying.

The afternoon wrapped up with a trip to the IU Regional Academic Health Center. There the team met with David Rodgers, Director of the Sim Center and Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine. David gave a tour of the Sim Center and explained that it is one of only three centers in the state that has full accreditation by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare in the areas of Assessment, Teaching/Learning, and Systems Integration. The tour included a visit to the OSCE and Sim rooms as well as the Home Health care apartment simulation to look for environmental hazards.

Gorgeous fall day in Bloomington!

Thank you to everyone who was able to attend last Friday’s History of Medicine talk by Chris Flook’s talk, “A Famine of Cadavers: Indianapolis Graverobbing in 1902″. The event was cosponsored by the John Shaw Billings History of Medicine Society, IU School of Medicine History of Medicine Student Interest Group, and the Ruth Lilly Medical Library.

The recording of the talk can now be viewed in IU Media Collections Online: https://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/media/237h73x38q

Chris has also given us permission to share his presentation slides in IUPUI ScholarWorks: https://hdl.handle.net/1805/35764

Please Consider Joining the John Shaw Billings History of Medicine Listserv:

If you not already a subscriber and are interested in receiving announcements about future events sponsored by the John Shaw Billings History of Medicine Society, please consider subscribing to our listserv (johnshawbillings-l@list.iu.edu). To subscribe to the list, send an email message to johnshawbillings-l-subscribe@iu.edu  (leaving the subject and body of the message blank). You will then receive an automated message from the listserv that includes a confirmation link. Follow the link to confirm your subscription. After confirming your subscription, you should receive a welcome message

The William H. Schneider History of French Eugenics Research Collection consists of publication manuscripts, conference presentations, correspondence, and other materials created and acquired by the donor (William H. Schneider, Professor Emeritus of History and Professor of Medical Humanities and Health Studies, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis) while researching the history of eugenics in France. The Ruth Lilly Medical Library is pleased to announce this new addition to our History of Medicine Collection.

Notable items from the collection include an unpublished autobiography (Mémoires sur moi et les autres) written by French physiologist, eugenicist, and Nobel Prize winner, Charles Richet (1850-1935); French obstetrician Raymond Couvelaire’s unpublished recollections (Épigrammes familiale et violons imaginaires) of his father-in-law, Adolphe Pinard (1844-1934), a pioneer of modern perinatal care and founder and first president of the French Eugenics Society (Société française d’eugénique); and letters exchanged between Schneider and Charles Richet’s grandsons, Gabriel and Denis Richet, who provided him with original archival materials about their grandfather.

A detailed descriptive finding aid for the collection can be viewed in IU Archives Online: https://archives.iu.edu/catalog/VAE4267

Further Reading:

• Schneider W. (1982). Toward the improvement of the human race: the history of eugenics in France. The Journal of modern history, 54(2), 268–291. https://doi.org/10.1086/244134
• Schneider, W. H. (1990). Quality and quantity: the quest for biological regeneration in twentieth-century France. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://iucat.iu.edu/catalog/569801
• Schneider W. H. (2001). Charles Richet and the social role of medical men. Journal of medical biography, 9(4), 213–219. https://doi.org/10.1177/096777200100900404
• Dunn P. M. (2006). Adolphe Pinard (1844-1934) of Paris and intrauterine paediatric care. Archives of disease in childhood. Fetal and neonatal edition, 91(3), F231–F232. https://doi.org/10.1136/adc.2005.074518
• Vergata A. (2018). In the name of science: the conceptual and ideological background of Charles Richet’s eugenics. Historia, ciencias, saude–Manguinhos, 25(suppl 1), 125–144. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0104-59702018000300008

More about the RLML History of Medicine Collection

The Ruth Lilly Medical Library’s History of Medicine Collection supports the research, learning, and educational success of Indiana University students, faculty, and community members by collecting, preserving, interpreting, and providing access to unique materials documenting the history of medicine; medical education, training, research, and practice; and health and disease treatment and prevention in the state of Indiana and beyond within the global context of the Western medical tradition.

The History of Medicine Collection is located on the third floor of the Ruth Lilly Medical Library (Room 307) and is open by appointment only (Monday-Friday, 10:00am-4:00pm). Research appointments and classes can be scheduled by contacting medlref@iu.edu.

The IU School of Medicine Ruth Lilly Medical Library is pleased to welcome Molly Montgomery to the role of Assistant Director for Medical Education and Access Services. She will start on Monday, July 24. Molly joins RLML from the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine where she served as the Director of Library Services and Assistant Professor since 2018.

Her love for librarianship began while earning a Master of Library Science at Texas Women’s University and she is currently pursuing a Master of Public Health through Idaho State University. Some of Molly’s favorite aspects of medical librarianship are teaching, helping with research projects, teaching the value of evidence-based medicine, and assisting learners with gaining confidence in their ability to read, understand, and apply research.

While she looks forward to learning from the team at the Ruth Lilly Medical Library, she prioritizes ways to contribute as well. Getting acquainted with the medical students and faculty is a high priority with the goal of determining how to best serve instruction and education needs. Additionally, she will be working to integrate library instruction related to evidence-based medicine into the medical curriculum, serving as the liaison to the medical students at the Gary campus, and supporting the Access Services team.

While taking a break from librarianship by practicing self-care, Molly enjoys hiking and biking, playing board games, collecting & building Lego sets, watching documentaries, and reading.