This exhibition, using materials from the National Library of Medicine, explores Harry Potter's world and its roots in Renaissance magic, science, and medicine. In 1997, British author J. K. Rowling introduced the world to Harry Potter and a literary phenomenon was born. Millions of readers have followed Harry to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where he discovers his heritage, encounters new plants and animals, and perfects his magical abilities. Although a fantasy story, the magic in the Harry Potter books is partially based on Renaissance traditions that played an important role in the development of Western science, including alchemy, astrology, and natural philosophy. Incorporating the work of several 15th- and 16th-century thinkers, the seven-part series examines important ethical topics such as the desire for knowledge, the effects of prejudice, and the responsibility that comes with power. For more information, visit the official exhibit website: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/harrypottersworld/

Visit the VCU Libraries Digital Collections

For more information on Neurasthenia and the Rest Cure:
Beard, George Miller. American Nervousness: Its Causes and Consequences, a supplement to nervous exhaustion (neurasthenia). 1881, Putnam: New York. [Tompkins-McCaw Library: RC552.N5 B368A 1881]

Mitchell, S. Weir. Fat and Blood: and how to make them. 1877, J.P. Lippincott & Co.: Philadelphia. [Tompkins-McCaw Library: RC343.M6 1878]

Mitchell, S. Weir. Lectures on the Diseases of the Nerves, Especially in Women. 1885, Lea Brothers & Co.: Philadelphia. [Tompkins-McCaw Library: RC340.M682 1885]

For more information on Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Feminist Theory:
Golden, Catherine; Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The Captive Imagination: A casebook on The Yellow Wallpaper. 1992, Feminist Press at the City University of New York: New York. [Cabell Library: PS1744.G57 Y453 1992]

Bassuk, Ellen L. The Rest Cure: Repetition or Resolution of Victorian Women's Conflicts? Poetics Today, 1985, 245-257

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. Herland, The Yellow Wallpaper and selected writings. 1999, Penguin Books: New York. [Cabell Library: PS1744.G57 A6 1999a]

For more information online, go to:
Reflections on Health in Society and Culture. University of Virginia, Historical Collections at the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, Charlottesville, Va.

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Compiled by Paxton Schunter
Special Collections & Archives
Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences

The exhibit, developed and produced by the National Library of Medicine and the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture, celebrates the achievements of African American pioneers in academic surgery and those that continue the tradition today.

Print the Flier

Print the Children's Guide

Print the Brochure

As part of the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Tompkins-McCaw Library building and the 110th anniversary of library service on the MCV Campus, an exhibit has opened on the first floor chronicling the history of this campus fixture. The exhibit includes historical images of the library, information about major milestones, and an illustration of the massive growth of library collections constructed with imprints from the Classics of Medicine Library.

The exhibit is located next to Current Periodicals on the first floor of Tompkins-McCaw Library, and may be seen during normal library hours. A companion Web page is also available.

For more information about this exhibit or the history of Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences, contact Andrew Bain, TML Special Collections and Archives, at 828-9898.

Ms. Elvatrice Parker Belsches, MA, RPh, is an archival researcher, author and pharmacist living in the Richmond area. Ms. Belsches is an emerging authority on the life of Dr. Sarah G. Jones MD, the first known woman of any race to be granted a medical license by the the Virginia State Board of Medicine. Belsches will discuss her new and corrective scholarship on this pioneering physician as the author of her biographical entry for Harvard University's upcoming publication, the African American National Biography, (Oxford University Press, Spring 2008) and the author of Richmond, Virginia, a Black America Series publication (now in its sixth printing).

Join the VCU Libraries in honoring women in all fields of medical sciences. The opening reception celebrates the contributions of VCU's own Dr. Marcella Fierro, Dr. Eleanor Sue Cantrell, and Dr. Yvonnecris Smith Veal, who are featured in this exhibit. The reception is free and open to the public, but a reservation is required to reserve your space.

To RSVP, contact Shannon Jones at (804) 828-0626.

Photo credit: S. Josephine Baker

Evelyn Crary Bacon was a trailblazer in nursing and nursing education in Virginia . As the Virginia Pioneer Nurses Centennial Program states, "she taught distance education before it was the popular 'buzzword' it is today. She founded and taught in ADN programs when the concept was very new. The curriculum model she designed at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College is still a successful one. Evelyn was also responsible for the RN to BSN program at the Academic Division of Virginia Commonwealth University -- one of the earliest programs of its kind."

Upon her passing, Mrs. Bacon left VCU Libraries her personal files, running in time from her days as a student at the University of Iowa in the 1930's all the way up to her work in processing the voluminous Virginia Nurses' Association Archives in the 1990's. Many of these items are included in the new exhibit.

Learn more about the exhibits at Tompkins-McCaw Library at http://www.library.vcu.edu/tml/speccoll/.

For more information about this exhibit, contact Andrew Bain, Special Collections Assistant, at albain@vcu.edu or (804) 828-9898