We have a very old wheelchair, a variety of pieces of
hydrotherapy equipment, including a pitcher and basin, and student
nurse's uniform from the 1950's. Books with stilted titles include Cold:
Their Cause, Prevention and Cure, and John Harvey Kellogg's 1680 page Home
Handbook of Domestic Hygiene and Rational Medicine.
The Sanitarium was a 40-bed facility was operated by a
series of physicians serving 2-year terms and staffed by the nurses who
had received their training in Keene.
In
November, 1893, the Woodalls, Atwoods and Frenches moved to this community
from East Texas. They were among the first families to arrive. Each of the
three families had children in the first class.
The following
summer, 1894, Mrs. French and her 16-year-old daughter died on the same
day. The following year, 1895,
Mr. H. B. French remarried. His new wife,
Alma, was a Battle Creek-trained nurse. In those days, nurses who were
trained under John Harvey Kellogg left Battle Creek to go all over the
world as medical missionaries. Alma French’s mission field was Keene.
The next year,
1896, Dr. Arthur
W. Herr also came to Texas from Battle Creek.
Dr. Herr
taught anatomy & physiology and Bible. In the evenings he cared for the
medical needs of the community. In 1897, his wife, Dr. Ida Herr, joined
him in Keene, and during that same year, the Herrs established a
sanitarium, one-half block west of this museum. In conjunction with the
new sanitarium, Alma French began to train academy students to become
certified nurses, today’s equivalent of registered nurses.
By the turn of the
century, the community had constructed a sanitarium building two blocks
south of this museum. It was called the Lone Star Sanitarium, and was
operated by a series of local doctors and by the nurses who had been
trained in Keene. The sanitarium workers did not have the luxurious
medical equipment that we see in this turn-of-the-century display today.
Their equipment mostly consisted of treatment tables and a lot of water
for hydrotherapy.
Dr. C. C. Cooke, the community's beloved resident physician
for a number of years, was known to perform tonsillectomies fro fifty
cents, or for free to those who could not pay. For students, he performed
the minor surgery between classes, so his young patients would not have to
miss out on class work.
Equipment in this display is not related
to Southwestern's history but was in use at a late 19th century doctors
office in the southern portion of Johnson County. The multipurpose chair
reclines to become an operating table with arms that extend out to about
90 degrees. the cabinets are filled with surgical instruments and a very
old blood pressure machine. This equipment was part of a much larger
collection of medical equipment owned and donated by Dr. Vernon Thomas,
class of 1942, who resides in Keene, Texas.
Papier-Mâché Man
"'Instrumental to the student whose repugnance to the
dissecting room is difficult to overcome.'
So claimed Dr. Louis Auzoux about papier-mâché anatomical
models like this one, which he began making in his Paris workshop in the
1820s. Cadavers were often difficult to obtain, and the lack of
refrigeration meant that bodies decayed rapidly. Auzoux devised an elegant
solution. Inspired by papier-mâché dolls, boxes, and other household items
then popular in Europe, he made the world's first successful papier-mâché
anatomical models, which he presented to the Paris Academy of Medicine in
1822. Auzox's company is still making anatomical models today."
-History Wired
For more information about the papier-mâché model and
its creator please visit:
