International Tuberculosis Exhibition (Exhibition)

Exist Dates

1908 November 30 - 1909 January 17

Biographical or Historical Note

abstract

Exhibition. Opened November 30, 1908 and closed January 17, 1909. Located on Floors 1-3 in the Columbus Avenue Wing at the American Museum of Natural History. The International Tuberculosis Exhibition, illustrating the prevention and treatment of tuberculosis in individual U.S. states as well as in other countries around the world, was first on view in Washington D.C. in connection with the International Tuberculosis Congress, and it was brought to New York at the request of the Committee on the Prevention of Tuberculosis of the Charity Organization of New York.

Summary

The International Tuberculosis Exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History, illustrating the prevention and treatment of tuberculosis in individual U.S. states as well as in other countries around the world, was first on view in Washington D.C. in connection with the International Tuberculosis Congress, and it was brought to New York at the request of the Committee on the Prevention of Tuberculosis of the Charity Organization of New York (1, p. 114; 2, p. 7-10). Three floors of the Columbus Avenue wing were set aside for the exhibition, and temporary stairways were installed so that the exhibition was accessible from each floor to the next (3, p. 127). Related programs were hosted by the Museum for school children, adults, and professionals (4, p. 44).

The exhibition was arranged geographically with exhibits addressing the status of and responses to tuberculosis in different countries including (1, p. 7):

*Germany (prepared under the auspices of the Imperial Board of Health in Berlin)

*Switzerland

*Hungary

*Ireland

The exhibition also included work in the U.S. with exhibits on Tuberculosis in the following states (1, p. 7-8):

*Pennsylvania

*Rhode Island

*New York

*Massachusetts

The exhibition featured topics including (1, p. 7-10):

*Optimal and actual conditions for preventing tuberculosis, comparing living conditions in old and new tenements

*A Massachusetts study showing the need for protections for factory workers

*Models of hospitals and sanatoria, including a design of new buildings for the Henry Phipps Institute in Philadelphia

*Infection from cow's milk and laws of the New York Department of Health presented by the Bureau of Animal Industry in the United States Department of Agriculture

*The New York City Charity Organization Society's Committee on the Prevention of Tuberculosis

*Tuberculosis treatments implemented in various countries

This is a condensed summary of the exhibition. For additional information, see Sources and/or Related Resources.

Sources

(1) American Museum of Natural History. "Special Exhibitions." The American Museum Journal, December 1908, p. 114.

(2) American Museum of Natural History. "The International Tuberculosis Exhibition." The American Museum Journal, January 1909, p. 7-10.

(3) American Museum of Natural History. The American Museum Journal, December 1908, p. 127.

(4) American Museum of Natural History. "School Children at the Tuberculosis Exhibition." The American Museum Journal, February 1909, p. 44.

For more information on this exhibition see:

Santoro, Geraldine. "'To Stamp Out the Plague Consumption'"; 1908-1909. Curator (Vol. 36, No. 1, March 1993): 13-30.

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Related Corporate, Personal, and Family Names

Committee on the Prevention of Tuberculosis of the Charity Organization Society of New York
Institutional partner (1, 1908, p. 114).

Germany. Kaiserliches Gesundheitsamt
Prepared exhibit on Germany; referred to as Imperial Board of Health in Berlin in Museum documentation (1 p. 7)

International Congress on Tuberculosis
Institutional partner (1, 1908, p. 114).

United States. Bureau of Animal Industry
Presented exhibit on infection from cow's milk (1, p. 8-10)

Related Resources

American Museum of Natural History. Annual Report. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1908: 18, 25.

subjectOf

American Museum of Natural History. Annual Report. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1909: 21.

subjectOf

American Museum of Natural History annual reports, 1902-2001.
Department of Preparation and Installation Report January 3, 1910

American Museum of Natural History. Department of Public Instruction correspondence, 1903-1909 (bulk 1904-1909). DR 047.

The American Museum journal
"Special Exhibitions," December 1908, p. 114; "The International Tuberculosis Exhibition," January 1909, p. 7-10; December 1908, p. 127; "School Children at the Tuberculosis Exhibition," February 1909, p. 44.

Osborn, Henry Fairfield. "The American Museum and the Public Health." November 30, 1908.

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