1 minute read
Mütter Museum
The College of Physicians of Philadelphia
19 South 22nd Street, Philadelphia
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Website: muttermuseum.org
Tour with Nancy Hill, Museum Manager, and Anna Dhody, Curator and Acting Co-Director
About: America’s finest museum of medical history, the Mütter Museum displays its beautifully preserved collections of anatomical specimens, models, and medical instruments in a 19th-century “cabinet museum” setting. The goal of the Museum is to help visitors understand the mysteries and beauty of the human body, and appreciate the history of diagnosis and treatment of disease. The Mütter Museum has a unique collection of specimens and objects that reflect the human history of anatomy and medicine. The collection ranges from 7th century BCE to 2014, although the majority dates from the mid-19th to the early 20th century. The collection consists mainly of human specimens and medical objects, although the Museum does have some nonhuman specimens. The Museum still collects objects and specimens that conform with its Collections Management Policy.
Key Takeaways
What best practices can we learn from the Mütter Museum?
• Modernizing and improving accessibility—while staying on brand: The Museum recently reformatted its exhibits and space, following ADA standards for accessible design. Improvements included new fiber optic lighting throughout, as well as different personal options for digesting information, e.g., sound/audio, touch, and video. The Museum worked with a designer to ensure its brand and essence would be maintained.
• Updated exhibits and innovative learning: Exhibits include touchscreens—including detailed interactive digitized materials—recorded historical audio perspectives, and take-home material. Windows allow visitors to watch staff working in the collections, behind the scenes. The Museum also updated its portrait displays with portraits of notable African-American physicians.
• Community involvement and consent: The Museum provides opportunities for visitors to share their stories and experiences. In alignment with its collection policies, it also continues to seek donations of new human specimens, emphasizing full unquestionable consent. In one instance, a donor was able to visit his own heart on display at the Museum.
