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Explore stories in Northwest history through highlights from MOHAI’s collections. Search by keyword below or browse the entire online collection by entering the asterisk symbol (*). Filter your search by type of materials.

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77 results for: Medicine and Health Care

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Image of Pair of green leather portières from the home of Melvin Albert Weed, 1902

Pair of green leather portières from the home of Melvin Albert Weed, 1902

Melvin Albert (Bert) Weed (1882-1964) began in the pharmacy business in 1898 as a clerk at the Bartell Drug Company. After college he partnered with Albert G. Keene and worked as a pharmacist at Lake Washington Pharmacy which became Weed's Pharmacy in 1910, operating in the same Central District location until 1958. A portière is a hanging curtain placed over…
ID Number:1971.5220.2
Date:1902
Image of Oxyoline Machine, used to aid in curing colds, pneumonia, and other ailments, ca. 1909

Oxyoline Machine, used to aid in curing colds, pneumonia, and other ailments, ca. 1909

In the early 20th century, it was thought that administering oxygen to patients would ease various respitory ailments and other health issues. This machine was purchased and used by Mrs. Oscar Ameline who was born in Seattle in the 1880s and lived there all her life. The Oxyoline was also used by her children. According to a pamphlet that came…
ID Number:1972.5515
Date:1909
Image of Photograph of President Warren Harding posing for World War I veterans at Cushman Hospital by Seattle photographer Martin A. Grady, 1923

Photograph of President Warren Harding posing for World War I veterans at Cushman Hospital by Seattle photographer Martin A. Grady, 1923

President Harding went on a tour of the western states arriving in Tacoma on July 3, 1923. He visited the WWI veterans at Cushman Hospital which was originally the Puyallup Indian School established in 1860, then renamed the Cushman Indian School in 1910, and then became the hospital in 1918. On July 5, Harding sailed to Alaska, returning to Seattle…
ID Number:1974.5977.9
Date:1923
Image of Victor chest X-ray machine, ca. 1918

Victor chest X-ray machine, ca. 1918

This x-ray machine was used by Dr. E.W. Rawson in Seattle. It may have been used to x-ray patients with influenza.
ID Number:1980.7077.8
Date:Circa 1918
Image of Glass plate x-ray of abdomen, 1920

Glass plate x-ray of abdomen, 1920

This x-ray was taken at the office of Dr. E.W. Rawson, MD, in Seattle most likely by the Victor chest X-Ray machine also in MOHAI's collection. The patient is unknown.
ID Number:1980.7077.14
Date:1920
Image of Operating room auxiliary table, ca. 1920

Operating room auxiliary table, ca. 1920

This table was first used in Seattle General Hospital (established in 1895) from about 1919 to 1939. It was located adjacent to the Operating Room and held sterile wraps, gloves, towels, drapes, and various instruments for ready use. Dr. Erroll Rawson purchased the table in 1940 and used it as an instrument cart until the 1970s when he retired.
ID Number:1981.7389.22
Date:Circa 1920
Image of Container of Powdered Orris Root from Bartell Drug Store, ca. 1900

Container of Powdered Orris Root from Bartell Drug Store, ca. 1900

Bartell Drugs, established in 1890, was one of the oldest and long-standing family-owned stores in Seattle until it was sold to Rite Aid in 2020. George H. Bartell Sr. (1868–1956) purchased the Lake Washington Pharmacy at 2711 South Jackson Street in Seattle's Central District in 1890, and that was the beginning of a long-lived and beloved Seattle business.
ID Number:1985.29.28
Date:Circa 1900
Image of Portrait of Dr. Kathryn Harrison at age 85 by Herbert P. Muehlenbeck, ca. 1944

Portrait of Dr. Kathryn Harrison at age 85 by Herbert P. Muehlenbeck, ca. 1944

Dr. Kathryn Harrison was one of the first physicians specializing in obstetrics in Seattle. She was arrested twice in 1912 at the age of 50. The first arrest was for the murder of a young woman from Vancouver, British Columbia, who probably died from complications from an abortion. The second arrest was part of a national sting operation against doctors…
ID Number:1990.25
Date:Circa 1944
Image of Lifepak 33 D.C. Pulse Defibrillator Cardioscope from Physio-Control, Inc., 1968

Lifepak 33 D.C. Pulse Defibrillator Cardioscope from Physio-Control, Inc., 1968

Physio-Control, based in Redmond, Washington, and founded in 1955, invented the first portable defibrillator used by first responders and the general public.
ID Number:1991.23
Date:1968
Image of The della Robbia Bambino plaque from the original Children's Orthopedic Hospital on Queen Anne, ca. 1946

The della Robbia Bambino plaque from the original Children's Orthopedic Hospital on Queen Anne, ca. 1946

Children's Orthopedic Hospital was established in 1907 by Anna Herr Clise and 23 Seattle women wanting to address the health care crisis. This plaque was given to the hospital by a former Italian prisoner-of-war, Giuseppe Tomarchio of Genoa, who was interned as a gardener and handy man working on the hospital grounds in the 1940s. The Bambino was the emblem…
ID Number:1996.24.2
Date:Circa 1946
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MOHAI stands on the historic and contemporary lands and shores of the Duwamish, Suquamish, Muckleshoot, and other Coast Salish Nations. We acknowledge the forced displacement of Native Communities from this land while honoring the endurance of the Duwamish people who still live here.
Address: 860 Terry Ave N, Seattle WA, 98109
Phone: 206 324 1126
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