The State of Health and Medicine Museums

Abstract

144 EXHIBITION REVIEWS The State of Health and Medicine Museums Megan Hicks ‘Health and medicine museums’ is a broad term that covers a range of collecting organisations all of which have in common the aim of preserving the material heritage of some aspect of health care. The parent bodies and funding sources of these museums vary greatly, from state government departments to historical societies, from educational institutions to commercial and not-for-profit businesses. Many of them are volunteer-managed or have a single paid part-time staff member working with or without the assistance of volunteers. In New South Wales they include, for example, hospital museums run by trained nurses associations; archives and display rooms at professional associations, such as the Australian Society of Anaesthetists and the College of Nursing; and museums in historic buildings or sites, like the Quarantine Station at Sydney’s North Head and the Bush Nurse Cottage at Lightning Ridge. There is also medical material in large and small museums with wider collections—the Powerhouse being a notable example, the Army Museum at Victoria Barracks another. When a gathering of custodians from health and medicine museums met for a seminar in February 2014, many of them came away with renewed hope for the future of their collections. The initial mood had been gloomy and the title of the seminar, ‘Surviving in difficult times’, had been chosen to reflect the challenges that some museums in New South Wales are currently facing, including the imminent demise of several.1 But the theme on the day became ‘What makes a really good health and medicine museum?’ after two guests from New Zealand asked that this question be discussed. Margaret Horsburgh and Robin Norris are on a committee for the formation of a medical museum in Auckland and after listening to the afternoon’s speakers they – and other attendees—left with notebooks full of ideas to take home. To some extent the seminar was a reunion of the Health and Medicine Museums Special Interest Group (HMM).2 I organised it after one former member of HMM expressed an interest in catching up with colleagues. As a past secretary of the group I had access to the contact details of many relevant museums and collections, and the event was attended by over thirty people—representing at least sixteen collections—eight of whom gave presentations.3 A sad Health & History ● 16/2 ● 2014 145 absence on the day was Judith Cornell, who was too ill to attend. Judith had been president of HMM since 1998 and was intending to talk at the seminar on the status of collections in NSW and ACT hospitals, bringing up to date a survey she had undertaken for NSW Health several years ago.4 The problems faced by such museums come in various forms. ‘Inadequate funding’ may be the perennial cry of all museums but it is a very real concern nevertheless, with few museums of any sort in Australia having access to money from philanthropic foundations. So health and medicine museums often do not have the means to properly catalogue, preserve and store their collections or maintain their premises. They lack sufficient trained staff or do not have the resources to send volunteers on training programs. And despite the enthusiasm and dedication of paid and unpaid staff, some of them may not have the skills to mount polished displays, develop programs of events, or devise marketing strategies that will attract new visitors and supporters. Uncertainty about tenure in the buildings they occupy is another worry for health and medicine museums. As healthcare facilities grow, shrink, change their function, or get sold as valuable real estate, museums are often the last occupants to be considered. Kenmore Hospital Museum is a case in point. A vast psychiatric asylum built in 1895 on 75 hectares near Goulburn, Kenmore Hospital now exists as a small mental health facility in a corner of the original site. The Kenmore Hospital Museum was located in an old ward within the original complex of sandstone buildings. It was founded by a group of dedicated staff and ex-staff who ran tours, mounted a new exhibition each year, and were successful in gaining grants...