Explore Exhibits
Displaying exhibits 1 - 10 of 28 in total
Visualizing a Century of Public Health
Current public health 20th century art Feb 13, 2025 - PresentA Graphic Art Retrospective Location: Galter Library Mezzanine
Visit the library's Mezzanine to explore these striking, high-quality reproductions of historic public health posters, curated from the National Library of Medicine Digital Collections, the Library of Congress, the National Archives and Records Administration, and other repositories. Whether you’re interested in medical history, design, or public health communication, this collection offers a fascinating glimpse into the past—and a reflection on how we continue to tell stories of health and wellness today.
Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back
Current public health american history mental health psychiatry Feb 5, 2026 - Jul 31, 2026The Continued Struggle to Treat Mental Illness in America Location: Eckenhoff Reading Room
Like a path through a maze, medical and societal responses to mental illness in America have seen shifts and turns of imperfect progress.
The Stormy Petrel & the Bull Moose
Current northwestern american history 20th century surgery political history chicago Jul 18, 2023 - PresentJ.B. Murphy & the Attempted Assassination of Theodore Roosevelt Location: Eisenberg Gallery
In October 1912, a would-be assassin's bullet brought former president Theodore Roosevelt into the path of renowned Chicago surgeon John Benjamin Murphy. This exhibit tells the story of the chance encounter between these larger-than-life figures in American history, exploring Murphy’s colorful career as well as the aftermath of Roosevelt’s shooting.
The State of Medicine at the Start of the Nation
surgery military medicine political history family medicine Nov 21, 2016 - Dec 22, 2016Location: Library Atrium
This exhibit presents a selection of the library's holdings to contextualize the western world at the time of George Washington, with an emphasis on medicine’s contemporary practices and developments.
The Fight for Life & Liberty
northwestern military medicine american civil war black history Dec 7, 2018 - Jun 4, 2019Soldiers, Nurses, and Doctors in the Civil War Location: Eckenhoff Reading Room
The curators of this exhibit explored personally meaningful themes to tell the stories of the people—especially African Americans—who served as soldiers, nurses, and doctors during the Civil War.
The Bell Brothers and the Art of Surgical Anatomy
surgery biography 19th century anatomy art 18th century Feb 7, 2024 - Sep 30, 2024Location: Eckenhoff Reading Room
John and Charles Bell used their skills as educators and artists to advance novel ideas of educational reform and to create the field of surgical anatomy.
Skin, Bones, & Tissue
surgery military medicine american history american civil war Apr 27, 2017 - Oct 16, 2017Amputations during the Civil War Location: Library Atrium
Using objects and books from the library’s collection, this display illustrates the grisly realities of amputation as the major medical procedure of the American Civil War.
Reviving the Body
science 19th century 18th century literature Oct 7, 2024 - Apr 29, 2025Science, Frankenstein, and the "Spark of Life" Location: Eckenhoff Reading Room
Discover the scientific theories that inspired the animation of Frankenstein’s monster in Mary Shelley’s classic gothic horror novel, Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus. Researchers argued that galvanism, a sort of electricity they believed was the life force in all animals, could be used to resuscitate people, or possibly even reanimate a corpse. “How dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge (Ch. 4),” especially when a spark can generate life?
Reconstructing the Body
anatomy art imaging Oct 7, 2024 - Apr 29, 2025Location: Eckenhoff Reading Room
The images and artifacts in this exhibit reimagine and reconstruct the human body, as inspired by Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
Places & Spaces
art traveling exhibit data visualization maps May 14, 2015 - Sep 23, 2015Mapping Science Location: Second Floor
Drawing from across cultures and across scholarly disciplines, this exhibit demonstrates the power of maps to address vital questions about the contours and content of human knowledge.