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News Release

November 20, 2007

Contact: Christopher DeFrancesco, 860-679-3914
e-mail: cdefrancesco@uchc.edu

UConn Health Center to House Hartford Medical Society Library, Museum

FARMINGTON, CONN. – The Hartford Medical Society will move its historical medical library and many of its artifacts to the University of Connecticut Health Center next spring.

Under an agreement finalized this month, the UConn Health Center will provide about 2,500 square feet of space adjacent to the Lyman Maynard Stowe Library. The Society is relocating from Scarborough Street in Hartford’s west end, its location since 1956.

“The Lyman Maynard Stowe Library welcomes the addition of this historic collection of medical books, journals and artifacts to our campus,” says library director Evelyn Morgen. “Because we are a relatively young medical school, the Hartford Medical Society will add depth and gravitas to the resources available to our faculty, to our students, and to scholars who visit our campus.”

The Society will retain ownership of its collection, and the cataloging will reflect this. The materials include manuscripts going back to the 17th century, account books of 19th century physicians, journals from their first volumes, and records of the experiments of 19th century Hartford dentist Horace Wells, who is credited with the discovery of surgical anesthesia.

“For some time, the Hartford Medical Society has felt the need for a greater exposure of its invaluable library and museum collection to both the academic community and the general public,” says Society President Bradford Blanchard, M.D. “Fortunately, the historical thrust of our collections is very compatible with UConn’s commitment to the history of medicine and to the humanities in medicine. Therefore, housing our collections at the UConn Health Center, with its academic environment and sophisticated information technology, is a natural fit.”

“These one-of-a-kind articles, books and journals are really Connecticut treasures,” says Bruce Koeppen, M.D., UConn Health Center dean of academic affairs and education.

The Health Center also will provide space for the Society’s continuing education programs for physicians. The Society is bearing the costs of renovations, relocation and maintenance of its collection, and will reimburse UConn for the salary and benefits paid to the librarian to be added as part of the agreement.

“This is an important collaboration with the Hartford Medical Society on the history of medicine, and bringing the Society’s collection here will make it more available to the public,” says Assistant Vice President of Health Informatics Renee Drabier, Ph.D., adding it was the physician members of the Hartford Medical Society who voted to move the collection to the UConn Health Center.

The Hartford Medical Society, established in 1846, provides educational programs for professionals in the fields of medicine, dentistry, history and the arts by offering lectures, sponsoring study sessions and preserving historic treasures of the healing professions.

Photo1: http://today.uchc.edu/images/news/medsociety.jpg
Caption: Dr. Renee Drabier of the UConn Health Center and Dr. Bradford Blanchard, president of the Hartford Medical Society, hold an anatomy book published in 1685. Also pictured is an anesthesia machine from 1946. (photo by Janine Gelineau, UConn Health Center)

Photo 2: http://today.uchc.edu/images/news/saddlebags.jpg
Caption: Among the medical artifacts moving to the UConn Health Center is this physician’s saddlebag, used by Dr. Elezear Pomeroy Hunt, who practiced in Tolland in the early and mid-1800s. Physicians would use saddlebags to carry medicines and other supplies as they traveled by horseback to make house calls. (photo by Janine Gelineau, UConn Health Center)

UConn Health includes the schools of medicine and dental medicine, the UConn Medical Group, University Dentists, and John Dempsey Hospital. Home to Bioscience Connecticut, UConn Health pursues a mission of providing outstanding health care education in an environment of exemplary patient care, research and public service. More information about UConn Health is available at www.uchc.edu.

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