TOURS CONTINUE!

The Omicron variant has pushed us to reduce the size of our tour groups out of an abundance of caution for our visitors and our volunteers. We expect this to be a temporary measure. Masks are required in the museum but our space is airy with high ceilings. Outdoor tours are offered on a weather-permitting basis.
A view of the Mural Room
FIGHTING FOR LIFE
Monthly Book Review

Volunteer Mary Ferguson reviews the story of Dr. Sara Josephine Baker, described as a public health crusader who developed techniques to save infants and children from horrible diseases in the early 1900s New York.
WELCOME AMBER!

We welcome our new Museum Coordinator, Amber Woods to the museum. Amber will bring her museum experience and background in anthropology, art history, and global health to her role as she seeks to raise awareness of and expand programming for the museum in the year ahead. Amber shares, "It is the passion of those working and volunteering in small museums that I find to be unparalleled, and leads to an enriching and fulfilling environment." We agree!
A New Year
from Al DeMaria, MD, President of the Board of Directors

We may finally be seeing the coronavirus pandemic coming to an end. Many things will never be the same. But, thanks to the commitment of our volunteers, the Public Health Museum remains open and continues to welcome visitors.
 
During the pandemic, tours were maintained
(limited in group size, but not enthusiasm), Outbreak! (our summer program to teach high school students about public health) successfully occurred twice, and a book club and a variety of topics were offered over Zoom. 

We continued to inventory our archives and collections, received funding from multiple grants (including funds to digitize more of the Tewksbury Hospital ledgers), re-convened our advisory committee, and recently hired a new museum coordinator.
 
We look forward to potential live programs in the spring, or if necessary, continue in
virtual mode, and another Outbreak! program in the summer.
 
In this new year, we will commit
ourselves to our strategic plan of a sustainable museum, with an emerging collection and successful outreach to the public and our public health supporters. To that end, we begin a membership campaign. Join or re-join now, by going to publichealthmuseum.org.
 
Your support will lead us into the new year and make the continued growth of the museum possible, keep you in the loop, and help us teach about the importance and impact of public health before, during and after the pandemic.
SMALL POX AND THE RISE OF ANTI-VAX PROPAGANDA IN BOSTON

The Boston Globe Magazine featured an excellent article by Christopher Klein about the 1901 smallpox epidemic and how the anti vax movement and propaganda nearly undid the containment of "The Speckled Monster." The museum's smallpox exhibit has several artifacts of this disease.


DIGITIZATION PROJECT BEGINS

Thanks to a grant from Mass Humanities, the museum will begin digitizing over 400 intake ledgers from Tewksbury State Hospital this month. The ledgers span from 1884 through the late 1940s. Ledgers predating 1884 were previously digitized through a collaboration with the University of Massachusetts Lowell Libraries and can be accessed online through the university’s website (https://libguides.uml.edu/c.php?g=492497&p=3369244).
 
Digitizing the remaining records will not only ensure the longevity and preservation of the ledgers, but will enable genealogists, researchers, and scholars to access the records to better understand the history of the state hospital and the many people who came through its doors. Using a CZUR ET18 Pro Professional Document Scanner, the records will be scanned, archived, and tagged with metadata (data that provides information about the document).
 
Leading the digitization effort is intern Kim Bonner, who has a background in genealogical research and volunteered with the New England Genealogical Society in Boston to digitize historic Catholic records from the Archdiocese of Boston. 
Tewksbury Almshouse Intake Record, UMass Lowell Libraries, Lowell, MA
APPRECIATION

At the end of 2021, two members of the Public Health Museum Board of Directors stepped down.

Ashlynn Rickord Werner made extraordinary contributions to the museum, on the board, and before that as the museum coordinator. She brought archival, collections, and historical expertise to all her service to the museum, instituting innovations to the operations and energetically securing grant funding for multiple purposes. She oversaw and led significant advances for the museum. She also wrote Tewksbury State Hospital in the Images of America series with Jon Maynard (signed copies available from the Public Health Museum).

Paul Berian was a volunteer at the museum when he generously agreed to take on the job of treasurer and join the board. He brought his business expertise to the board, and as treasurer, managed complicated issues and introduced enhanced methods and
practices for tracking funds for our growing operation.

We will miss Ashlynn and Paul on the board, and thank them for their service. We also greatly appreciate their continued involvement with the museum and willingness to provide expert advice. We wish them all the best in their endeavors.

Please consider donating today!
"America's first public health museum"