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| The Statue Outside of IMSS - Help to those who don't like science! |
Last
week we headed to the International Museum of Surgical Science, a true gem
among Chicago's already impressive museums. Located in a four-story Gold Coast mansion
built in 1917, the building is an odd but perfect match for a medical
museum.
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| A Peek Up the Main Staircase |
If
you don’t happen to be a scholar in medicine or science, this place will quickly
change your mind. In fact, the museum is
intriguing for its location alone (although it has plenty more to offer than
that). The building that houses the IMSS,
now an official Chicago landmark, had originally been a residence built by Eleanor
R. Countiss (daughter of a wealthy Diamond Match Company executive) in 1917,
where she and her family continued to live until 1950. It was designed with Louis XIV and Marie
Antoinette in mind, and the building exterior to this day resembles a French
chateau. Then, Dr. Max Thorek (founder of the International College of
Surgeons) acquired the property in 1950. Although he made some renovations to the
interior during his first few years of ownership, the building still maintains
many of its original decorative marble, plaster, and woodwork features,
including the beautiful fireplaces on all floors, as well as the grand main
staircase. The museum opened its doors
to the public in 1954, and has been welcoming guests ever since. Despite its prominent location on Lake Shore
Drive, overlooking the lake and only steps away from Lincoln Park, this museum
is too often slighted in the shadows of its larger counterparts around the city. We will take you through it in case you, too,
have missed it!
On
the first floor of the museum, tucked away in the far left corner off the main
office, is an early 20th century pharmacy and dentist set up, called
the “Turn of the Century Apothecary Shop” of Dr. Uriah Jones. This is, at first glance, reminiscent of the “Yesterday’s
Main Street” mainstay exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry. The IMSS takes this idea one step further—not
only providing the environmental “feel” of yesteryear to the visitor, but by
using the apothecary as a medium to explain to the visitor its social and medical
properties (via an audio “tour” of the room).
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| Dr. Uriah Jones in his Apothecary |
As
an outsider to the medicine and science scholarly camp, this exhibit was a
great introduction into the museum.
While science and medicine seem daunting, I can get on board with
history. The historical (almost
theatrical) setup of the apothecary was entertaining, enough so that it allowed
me to also swallow scientific information at the same time. I hated learning about science in school. It was too complicated to be interesting, and
it’s not really a field that is learn-able on paper alone (which the schooling
system relies too heavily on to teach to students). Medicine, and science more generally, are
more interesting to me now that an obscure knowledge of it isn't mandatory. As an adult, I’ve found it's nice to have
museums to offer that supplemental education, after formal education is offer.
And, bonus, no student loans attached to learning in a museum!
Fortunately
the Museum of Surgical Science doesn’t resort to teaching or presenting science
just on paper alone. It has its four
floors jampacked with artifacts and exhibits and information of all types. Having been unfamiliar with this museum
before my visit, I assumed the IMSS would be small, because it’s on the road
less traveled (which, in terms of museums in this city, typically indicates the
road north of Monroe Street). I was very
wrong.
There
was honestly enough variety that the museum could engage both those more
learned visitors (there were many doctors, nurses and professionals in the
medical field visiting), and those less familiar with the subject matter (me). The historical approach to learning about
medicine was pretty readily available throughout the museum, which was probably
most engaging in the artifacts (especially the iron lung and Victorian-era
wheelchairs). Surprisingly to me, the
IMSS also heavily incorporates art into its mission. Most notable in this category is the “Artist
Residency” special exhibit, a program the Museum has been fostering to lend
Chicago-based artists an opportunity to learn and create art within its walls
relating to medical history. It is an
excellent program, offering yet another means of interpreting medical and
scientific knowledge to both the artists and the museum’s visitors.
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| A Look into the Hall of Immortals from the Library |
In a
more abstract sense, the second floor of the museum is dedicated to various
artistic depictions of Medicine’s “hall of famers.” The Hall of Immortals, as it’s called,
features compelling sculptures of some of Medicine’s more notable contributors,
including Imhotep, Marie Curie, and Andres Vesalius. These sculptures by Chassaing and Linck are accompanied
by nothing more than the natural lighting provided in the Hall, and some
salient museum labels (actually I would argue the IMSS had the best museum
labels throughout). Though simple, is a
pretty dramatic presentation that sticks with the visitor as you go on to other
floors to learn more specifics about the Immortals’ contributions. And on your way back down that grand
staircase, you realize that you truly have learned more about medicinal history
on those four floors than any textbook alone could teach you!
