The Hartford Medical Society has moved to the University of Connecticut Health Center. Below is a description of the galleries and their contents prior to the move. Selected pieces may be viewed online by clicking on the link below.
The Hartford Medical Society which filled the Hunt Memorial Building at 230 Scarborough Street, included a wonderful collection of seven galleries. The Bicentennial, McManus, Reid, Whalen, Wells' Rooms, the Russell Lobby and the Steiner Library comprise the seven and housed a collection of artifacts, instruments and furniture from the members of the Hartford Medical and Dental Societies and friends of the museum. The materials in the galleries ranged in date from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.
The portraits of photographs of physicians and dentists date from the early 1800's to 1983. The Steiner Library exhibits a collection of physician handbags, diplomas, and licenses. The Reid Room houses the 1925 dental office of Dr. William Reid of Hartford. The Wells Room is devoted to the Horace Wells artifacts, early dental instruments, cabinets and a chair from 1895. The Bicentennial Room features manuscripts of Gershom Bulkeley (1635-1713), a physician-cleric, the microscope collection, victorian examining tables and instruments of the period. The Russell Lobby features 11 cases featuring items from Connecticut: the 1799 saddle bags of Eleazer Hunt of Tolland; medicine chests and medicines from 1800-1910. The display of military surgical kits are from the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. Medical inventions from the 1850's show the use of electricity, manipulation of joints, development of the stethoscope and the stomach pump.
The McManus Room is the large meeting room that also displays the "James Medical Dictionary", 1743, once owned by Samuel Clemens. Other features include the 1920 x-ray machine and a Picker flouroscope from the 1970's. The Whalen Room displays are of Louis Pasture Institutes and their research in pathology around the world as well as dental student cases complete with instruments from the 1880's. The "SMILEMOBILE CASE" shows how we have brushed our teeth for the last 100 years.