History

Lost Washington: The Army Medical Museum

by Kent Boese   •   May 21, 2009 4:00 pm

The brick Romanesque Revival building originally located at the northwest corner of 7th and Independence, SW, was the successor to the Ford's Theatre facility. Opened in 1887, it was designed and built to house the Army Medical Museum, the Library of the Surgeon General's Office, and some of the medical records.

Between 1893 and 1910, it also housed the Army Medical School. The Museum and the Library remained in this location until the 1960s, when they were moved to their present separate locations. Even though the structure had been listed on the National Register of Historic Buildings, the Interior Department redefined its status, claiming that the collection of medical specimens within constituted the building's importance. The building was razed in 1969 and replaced by the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

The Army Medical Museum evolved into the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and the National Museum of Health and Medicine, Washington, DC, and the Library of Surgeon General's Office became the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD.

Top left: Army Medical Museum. Main exhibit hall, 1942. Top right: Interior of Surgeon General's library. Bottom left: Army Medical Museum, anatomical exhibit, 1/25/1920. Bottom right: Comparative anatomy, Auzoux model of horse, life size. Specimen no. 2635. All images courtesy of the Otis Archives Flickr Photostream.

Kent Boese posts items of historic interest primarily within the District. He's worked in libraries since 1994, both federal and law, and currently works on K Street. He lives in the Park View neighborhood, and is the force behind the blog Washington Kaleidoscope.