Anybody have an idea of where to go to look at the history of medical practices? I need to discover things like medical techniques in the 1930s for instance, or the state of psychiatry etc.
Cheers
Are you looking for practices in a specific country or place, in addition to that time period? Or, just general practices from lots of places to compare and contrast?
If you’re in the UK, start with the Welcome:
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I know Welcome but didn’t know how much they have in their library but that’s an excellent idea. Thank you.
Yes, New York 1938 is my target
Jonathon
For NY-centric items, I’d start with the New York Academy of Medicine, which houses this Medical Society of the County of New York Records, 1806-1989.
I’d also check with NYPL, which tends to have a special collection for nearly everything. Their Milstein Division of U.S., Local History and Genealogy might be useful.
Perhaps even the Museum of the City of New York or the New York Historical Society. The reference teams at both places might be able to help you identify experts or resources on the topic.
It might take a while for their reference teams to reply. But, I’ve usually had good luck with contacting historical societies and museums. Particularly when I’ve done as much as I can online and have a focused, specific list of items I’d like their help in copying or retrieving.
Thank you for all those links.
I actually found some useful info on Wikidocs that will do for now but those links will hopefully provide some more detailed visuals on machinery and techniques which would also be very helpful.
It’s a good start. Thanks for helping me along.
Jonathon
@JPS: archive.org might have something, and you can narrow down your search by date.
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A university medical school library would be a good place to start. State-funded universities in particular are often pretty accessible to members of the public. The really good ones have good online catalogs with reference librarians available to help.
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