Harvard Dental Museum
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The Harvard Dental Museum dates from the late 1870s but the exact date of its formation is unknown.[1][2] The first annual Announcement of The Dental School indicates a museum was in existence, or at least in prospect, in 1868-69.[2] The original specimens in the collection were provided by Dental School Graduates who were required to provide specimens to the Dental Museum to be used as instructional materials for students.[2] Dr. Arthur T. Cabot presented about 175 specimens to the Dental Museum in 1881 and is considered the museum's founder.[1]
At its peak, the Dental Museum held 14,000 specimens in its collection[3] including skulls,[2] dental instruments, dentures, and minerals and metals used in dentistry.[1]
The museum was dismantled in 1937 due to the changing nature of dental education at Harvard, and its collections were placed in storage or dispersed.[3]
The historical records of the Museum are preserved in the The Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine.[2] Other specimens from the museum are found in the Warren Anatomical Museum.[2]
Administration
Curators
Dr. Arthur Tracy Cabot
Dr. Arthur Tracy Cabot (1852- 1912) was the very first curator of the Harvard Dental Museum from 1879 to 1881. In addition to being an administrator for the museum, he also was an instructor in the Harvard Dental School and donated approximately 175 specimens that would make up the pathological collection within the museum.
Charles Wilson
Charles Wilson (1842 – 1912) was the second curator of the Harvard Dental Museum and served from 1881 – 1891. He too served as an instructor at the Harvard Dental School.
Waldo E. Boardman
Although Waldo E. Boardman (1851 - 1922) was the third curator for the Harvard Dental Museum, he is perceived as the father of the museum. On June 18, 1891, Mr. Boardman was voted to be the third curator of the Harvard Dental Museum and would hold the position for the next thirty years. Mr. Boardman worked in the shoe business, patent solicitor, and newspaper solicitor before taking an interest in dentistry. He graduated from Harvard’s Dental School in 1886 and became an instructor in operative dentistry three years later. During his time as a curator he expanded numerous collections but did report a lack of adequate space and money to fully grow the museum to its potential. On August 14, 1922, Dr. Boardman’s time as a curator ceased when he died while traveling back home to Boston after attending a meeting for the American Dental Association in Los Angles.
Albert Fernald
Albert Fernald would be the fourth curator of the Harvard Dental Museum. Mr. Fernald had the opportunity to work under Dr. Boardman and assist him in the library and with different specimens. Mr. Fernald took a special interest in preserving items relating to the Dental School. In addition to expanding collections, Mr. Fernald updated catalogs and proposed the idea that the museum loan out different specimens to instructors for their lectures. Just like his predecessor, Mr. Fernald also faced the problem of a lack of space, exhibition cases, and money which limited how he could expand and add to the collections. Many specimens that the museum collected had to be put in storage due to the deficiency of space. On February 9, 1925, he wrote the dean Mr. Miner and made him aware of the limitations that he was under in addition to asking him for eight hundred dollars to one thousand dollars each year so that he would have the opportunity to buy new equipment. At the age of 64 years old, Mr. Fernald retired.
Dr. Kurt H. Thoma
Dr. Kurt H. Thoma (1883 – 1972) was the final curator of the museum but did not start until April of 1937 due to changes in policy and management. Dr. Thoma was an early graduate from Harvard School of Dental Medicine in 1911 and would become the Brackett Professor of Oral Pathology for the Harvard Dental School. He would also work at Massachusetts Hospital as the chief of Oral surgery.
References
- ^ a b c Monks, George H. (May 7, 1925). "The Museum of the Harvard Dental School". Harvard Alumni Bulletin. 27 (31): 905–914.
- ^ a b c d e f "The Lost Museum of Harvard's Dental School". Center for the History of Medicine. Center for the History of Medicine, Countway Library, Harvard Medical School. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
- ^ a b Gewertz, Ken (May 3–9, 2007). "Treasures of Dental School's Old Museum Opened Wide at Exhibit". Harvard University Gazette. Harvard News Office. pp. 11–12.