exhibition in twentieth-century american medicine

Conventions of Display:Exhibition in Twentieth-Century American Medicine

Miriam Posner • Yale University • miriam.posner@yale.edu

CONVENTIONS OF DISPLAY:EXHIBITION IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY AMERICAN MEDICINE

MIRIAM POSNERYALE UNIVERSITYmiriam.posner@yale.edu

Washington Post, June 7, 1937

Freeman (second from left) demonstrating at an exhibit

Freeman (second from left) demonstrating at an exhibit

Stevan Dohanos, At the Convention, 1960 (detail)

Photograph from Hull and Jones, Scientific Exhibits (1961)

1899: the exhibit begins

Journal of the American Medical Association, June 17, 1899

1899 – 1945: the exhibit expands

Demonstrating an exhibit, 1935

Illustration from Hull and Jones, Scientific Exhibits (1961)

Illustration from Hull and Jones, Scientific Exhibits (1961)

Demonstrating an exhibit, 1935

Floor plan for 1925 AMA Scientific Exhibit

Floor plan for 1925 AMA Scientific Exhibit

1945 – 1965: the exhibit’s baroque period

Demonstrating an exhibit, 1955

AMA’s Scientific Exhibit, ca. 1960

Demonstrating an exhibit, 1955

An audiovisual exhibit, 1962

A live demonstration, 1962

Closed-circuit television, 1949

1965 – 1980: the exhibit in decline

A young scientist and his poster, 2006

2006 exhibit award winners at the New York State Society of Anesthesiologists convention

A PowerPoint template for medical presentations

1. A lively, interactive pedagogical and probative culture

An interactive exhibit, 1962

2. Medicine and showmanship

The technical exhibit, 1935

Floor plan, 1925 AMA Scientific Exhibit

Illustration from Hull and Jones, Scientific Exhibits (1961)

3. Palpability and virtuality

A fresh tissue pathology exhibit, 1962

4. Opening the body to display

Filming an operation, 1953