Personal Collection on Permanent Exhibit in Chicago
On 10 November 2010, I presented about half of my personal collection of books and artifacts related to occupational medicine to the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, on long-term loan. ACOEM put them on display in museum-style glass cases in the library in the College’s offices just outside Chicago. Posted with this entry are the remarks I made during the presentation ceremony and a catalogue of the exhibit, broken down by theme.
I enjoy knowing that before every Board meeting or event at the College, the leaders of occupational medicine walk past the exhibit and view these tangible reminders of where we came from, as a field. One hopes that it inspires and informs, warns against mistakes of the past, and enriches the discussion about the present for the benefit of the future.
The Centenary of ACOEM is coming up quickly, in 2016. Even more important than celebrating our history is to understand it, and nothing clarifies why things are the way they are than looking at these artifacts and reading what people were saying and thinking in the past. They are our tangible link to our own past and the protection of workers across the centuries and decades and I am privileged to share this collection with my colleagues.
By posting the catalogue on-line, it is my intention to make it available to other scholars of the history of occupational medicine. I hope that it will also stimulate others to share the resources they may have in their private collections so that others may learn.
The exhibits can be viewed at:
American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
25 Northwest Point Blvd.
Suite 700
Elk Grove Village, Illinois, 60007-1030
Telephone: 847/818-1800, Fax: 847/818-9266
Links:
- Remarks
- The Literature of Occupational Medicine
- The Practice of Occupational Medicine
- The Values of Occupational Medicine
- The Science of Occupational Medicine I
- The Science of Occupational Medicine II
- Mining and Occupational Medicine