July 4, 2026 • 35 mins
As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, “The UMB Pulse” explores the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s (UMB) place in the larger American story through the people, collections, discoveries, and ideas that shaped medicine, health, law, social work, pharmacy, dentistry, nursing, and public service.
The episode digs into UMB’s early beginnings with Tara Wink, MLS, historical collections librarian and archivist at UMB’s Health Sciences and Human Services Library (HSHSL). Wink’s work connects students, researchers, and the public with records, books, artifacts, and stories that show how UMB’s past continues to inform its present.
Discover artifacts and resources mentioned in this episode on the HSHSL Historical Collections Department website.
Learn more about how UMB’s history intertwines with our American story.
Listen to The UMB Pulse on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, and wherever you like to listen. The UMB Pulse is also now on YouTube.
Visit our website at umaryland.edu/pulse or email us at umbpulse@umaryland.edu.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dana Rampolla (00:00):
In the early 1800s, Baltimore was still a young
(00:03):
American city, and the UnitedStates was still defining what
its institutions would become.
Medicine looked very different then.
There were no antibiotics, noadvanced imaging, certainly no organ
transplantation, and no genomicmedicine, and AI wasn't helping
researchers ask new questions.
But here in Baltimore, a group ofphysicians believed medicine should be
(00:24):
taught through science, observation,and hands-on learning, and that belief
helped give rise to what is now theUniversity of Maryland, Baltimore.
And more than two centuries later, youcan still walk into one of the places
where that story began, Davidge Hall.
As the United States marks its250th anniversary, we're looking at
(00:45):
UMB's place in that larger Americanstory, not just through buildings
and dates, but through the people,collections, and discoveries, and
ideas that shaped medicine, health,law, social work, pharmacy, dentistry,
nursing, and public service.
Today, we're going into thearchives with someone who helps
preserve and uncover those stories.
Tara Wink is a historicalcollections librarian and archivist
(01:08):
with the Health Sciences andHuman Services Library at UMB.
Her work helps connect today'sstudents, researchers, and the public
with the records, books, artifacts,and stories that show how UMB's past
continues to inform its present.
I'm Dana Rampolla, and we arecelebrating UMB's impact on America
on this edition of the UMB Pulse.
Jena Frick (01:33):
You're listening to Maryland Baltimore, the UMB Pulse
So Tara,welcome to the UMB Pulse.
Tara Wink (01:49):
Thank you.
I'm happy to be here.
Dana Rampolla (01:52):
Before we get into some of your stories, I
wanna start with your work.
When people hear historical collectionslibrarian and archivist, they may
picture old books, dusty boxes,or things locked away in a vault.
But what does your jobactually look like?
What are you helping people discover?
Tara Win (02:10):
Well, there are a fair number of old books and dusty materials,
so it's not too far off, but there'sso much more, um, that's involved in
historical collections and archives.
I do have collections ofrare books that are unique.
Some maybe one of few volumesavailable in the world.
Our oldest book is actually 1497.
(02:32):
That's something everybody asks.
But we do have a really greatcollection of archival materials
that truly tells the history of UMB.
I usually say my job is to collect andtell the history of the University of
Maryland Baltimore, as well as some ofthe other schools that existed along
with UMB and then merged with us.
(02:53):
So it's a, it's a really diversehistory, uh, that spans over 200
years and, you know, is pretty muchintertwined with the city as well.
Yeah.
I do, I get to work with a lot ofdifferent people, so I get to work with
people at the university, but I alsoget to work with people outside of UMB.
Uh, a lot of the questions thatI answer are community questions,
(03:16):
so genealogical questions aboutfamily members who have gone to
school here and things like that.
But there's a lot of differentconversations that happen and things
that I, I get to do as an archivist.
Um, it's not just reading books or,you know, hoarding, if you will.
(03:38):
Um, it's a lot more, uh, really tellingthe history, getting the information
out there in different capacities.
So through things like this orblog posts or social media posts.
Uh, digitization is also reallybig, so there's a lot of technology
involved in archives as well.
We, we scan materials and we put themout onto the internet so that people can
(04:00):
access, access them without having tocome to UMB, and that's, that's been a
game changer in the world of archives.
It allows people to interact withthings that they could only do
by coming to campus at one point.
So, um, that's a big part of myjob as well is getting more and
more resources available online andaccessible for people around the world.
Dana Ram (04:24):
And when someone comes to you with a research question from
either here in Baltimore or aroundthe world, like you said, how do you
help them start to look for answers?
Tara W (04:32):
It really depends on the type of question that's being asked.
And usually a lot of our questionsinvolve our graduates, and we do have
a database of our graduates in thelibrary that we've created through
a variety of different sources.
We have a collection of commencementprograms, we have catalogs, academic
(04:53):
catalogs that tell you, like, thecourse requirements, the costs,
as well as the students thatattended, um, newspaper articles.
So we've used those to createa, a database where people
can search for our graduates.
Um, and it's pretty up-to-date.
And again, a lot is availableonline, so I can, you know, search
our digital archive for the, fora variety of different things.
(05:15):
And that's ultimately usuallywhere I start 'cause most of our
questions can be answered throughthings like our annual catalog,
the yearbooks newsletters thingslike that are available online.
And then it involves physicallydigging through papers.
And I have a lot of spreadsheets.
(05:37):
A lot of spreadsheets in archives aswell as things called finding aids,
and finding aids are what we createso that users know what we have in
our collections and how they canbe used and how they're organized.
So there's a few finding aids availableonline that people can look through and
see, you know, what collections contain.
Dana Rampolla (05:56):
The archives aren't just a museum of the past.
They're really a way of askingnew questions about the past.
Tara Wink (06:03):
Correct.
Yeah.
I think there's so many differentresearch questions that you
can ask from one object.
Our oldest book, forexample, is our oldest book.
It's from 1497.
It's an example of incunabula, whichis any book pu- published before 1500.
Um, so there's that kind ofresearch you can do with it.
You can do the research on the topic.
(06:23):
It's an- anatomy text.
But then it also has a reallyinteresting story behind it too.
So there's all kinds of differentavenues that you can take with
just one object or one collection.
So yeah, any number ofquestions can be answered.
Dana Rampolla (06:39):
And you mentioned stories, so let's jump into that.
UMB was founded in 1807,just a few decades after the
founding of the United States.
When we talk about UMB in the contextof America's 250th anniversary,
what should people understand aboutthe world that UMB was born into?
Tar (06:58):
If you think about it, 1807 is only 31 years after the founding
of our country, so our country isvery much still in its infancy.
Yes, there had been people here in theUnited States from Europe and other
nations, um, before that, and of course,like Native Americans were here as well,
but our country was founded in 1776.
(07:20):
UMB is founded in 1807.
It's, it's not much after thatyoung country was established.
So there's still a lot ofunknowns about what's what is
this country gonna look like, whatare we going to be as a nation?
And we don't even haveour national anthem yet.
Our national anthemis, is written in 1814.
(07:41):
So I mean, UMB is a predece- is, is, isbefore- … our, our national anthem.
It's, it's so, it's,it's something like-
Unique about us.
Baltimore was actually established in1729, so it is an older, older city, and
it's the third-biggest city at the time.
(08:01):
And it was established where itwas because of access to water.
So there's a lot of shipping, alot of people coming into the city
because there was access for that.
And water is wonderful, but italso brings a lot of issues.
And at the time, if we're thinking aboutwhat UMB is, it's a medical institution.
And so diseases are carried by water.
(08:24):
Diseases are there because ofmosquitoes, because of new people
coming in and bringing differentinfections and stuff like that.
So while water was an important aspectof Baltimore, it also did give rise to
the need for medicine and medical care.
Also sanitation.
(08:45):
We didn't understand sani-sanitation like we do today.
Water was very easily contaminatedby animal, human, industry waste.
Uh, we just didn't understand thatyou can't dump things into water
and then drink it and not get sick.
So there isn't a, there isn't asanitation like we have today.
No electricity.
(09:06):
It was gas-powered materialsand lights, candle, coal.
So dirty, I hate to say, but thecity was dirty, and most cities were.
That wasn't, it wasn'tunique to Baltimore.
It was actually safer to drink, like,beer or liquor instead of water because
of all of these different things.
(09:26):
Um, and medical knowledge andmedical profession was also
very much in its infancy.
We didn't understand howdiseases were spread.
Germ theory wasn't existing.
Um, we didn't, we didn't get it.
And so UMB is established in that,you know, wanting to learn more about
(09:47):
the human body and health and makingsure people are safe and hoping
to keep life expectancy longer.
I'm actually 41, and that w-would've been old in 1807.
So I mean, it, the lifeexpectancy was, is very much
different from what it is today.
A lot of infants didn'tmake it through infancy.
Just a different world and-UMB is born into that
Dana Rampolla (10:10):
And you've, you talked about illness and
about people just not knowing.
So what was actual medica- medicaleducation like then at that time?
Tara Wink (10:20):
So UMB is the fifth oldest medical school in the country.
Uh, it's the firstpublic medical school.
The first school was establishedin 1765, uh, so it's still like,
like the US, it's in its infancy.
They're still, not sure whatmedical education needs to entail.
UMB was unique in that thefounders believed that dissection
(10:42):
and anatomy was very importantto learning about the body.
So they very early on made itcompulsory, and a lot of other
schools didn't have that requirement.
They didn't have opening up thebody and looking through it and,
and learning about it as somethingthat was necessary to understand it.
Also a lot of doctors didn't havea degree, so a lot of the medical
(11:04):
professionals in, in this countrydidn't have a formal education.
So it wasn't viewed as nece-necessary to be a doctor until later.
In Baltimore alone, there was,there is a medical society.
So MedChi is here in Baltimore,and it's the state medical society.
It was founded in 1799, and the timeof its founding, only 19% of its
(11:26):
members actually had a medical degree.
So think about that.
We … you're talking about aprestigious medical society, and
it … They're recognizing theimportance of medic- medicine in
Baltimore, and they're also theones driving medical education
in Baltimore, and only 19% of themembers had any sort of formal degree.
(11:47):
So how did you get it?
How did you become a doctor?
You apprenticed with other peoplewho were practicing it, and, who
knows where they got their education,where they got their information,
and you were learning from that.
So it was, it was like apassed down type tradition.
And the founders of UMB recognizedthat, no, this was an important thing
(12:08):
and we needed to have some sort ofdegree so that you could trust doctors.
Dana Rampolla (12:16):
So UMB's founding wasn't just a local milestone.
It was part of a larger momentwhen the country was still
building its professional andscientific and civic institutions.
Tara Wink (12:27):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Dana Rampolla (12:28):
So interesting.
One of the most visible links tothat early history that we have
here on campus is Davidge Hall,which opened in 1812, and it's
still part of UMB today, undergoinga big renovation at the moment.
For someone who's never visitedDavidge Hall, what was it built to do?
Tara Win (12:45):
So it was really meant to do everything for the school.
It was a building that … Itwas the only building on campus.
It was the only space available.
So what does a universityor a college do?
It educates, so therewas space for education.
So there still are two verylarge lecture halls, uh, Chemical
Hall and Anatomical Hall whichwere meant so students could
(13:08):
learn from a faculty member.
There, it's in this amphitheaterseating, so kinda like this.
Students sat in, sat up, and the facultywas on, on the ground lecturing up.
It allowed for some, like,showcasing, so you could-
presumably dissect a person there.
(13:30):
Uh, they weren't doing that.
Again, I alluded to this earlierwhere dissection was, was something
that you had to do in private.
Um, uh, and actually Davidge, JohnBeale Davidge, was one of our founders.
Davidge Hall wasn't calledDavidge Hall to begin with.
We actually named it in honorof him m- much later on.
Um, but the hall was built in responseto he had had, um, his own space
(13:56):
in his house, and he was teachingdissection, and the townspeople found
out about it and destroyed his home,uh, because they were so upset and
outraged by somebody dissecting a body,um, for any sort of use or purpose.
They didn't… It wasn't… Again,the body was sacred, and there's
religious tones to that as well.
(14:16):
So, um, Davidge Hall had privateentrances and passageways and
hidden staircases so that theycould easily move bodies into the
building and then hide the studentsand faculty who were performing
dissections for anatomical study.
Dana Rampolla (14:34):
Oh, interesting.
Tara Wink (14:36):
Yeah.
And this had to, this happeneduntil, um, the 1880s when anatomy
law was passed allowing foraccess to bodies for medical use.
So a good portion of our time as aninstitution, this had to be done in
private, and they had to acquire bodiesin ways that were ille- were illegal
(14:59):
or maybe not ethical, well, definitelynot ethical, um, in order to…
And ethical by today's standards anyway.
At the time, like, it's whatyou had to do in order to learn.
Um, so Davidge Hall was built in orderto allow for this type of activity.
Um, the walls are very thick.
(15:21):
Uh, it's brick.
It was cold becausethere's no central heating.
There's no electricity, so it's cold,and there's that smoke in the air from
the heating com- heating componentbut also from candles and oil lamps.
So think about that smell alongwith human bodies being dissected.
Um, so much like the city, it's not, notideal for, today, by today's standards,
(15:47):
but that's what they, th- that's what itwas built for and built to, to handle.
Um, there was a library.
Um, our library was first in thatbuilding as well, um, and that,
that was established in 1813.
Um, but it also was a space for facultyto be and students to be And learn
Dana Rampolla (16:08):
Wow, you've touched on so many interesting…
I did not know that he actuallyconducted dissections in his home.
Yeah And as a former bio major whodid a lot of anatomy, including
dissecting a cadaver, that just-
Tara Wink (16:20):
Oh, my goodness.
I
Dana Rampolla (16:21):
didn't know that … I mean, I just think how
I felt that day walking into class,and to think about having that,
you know, in your living room.
"Come on in, students, let's learnhere." I just, that's overwhelming
and incredibly interesting.
Um, when people walk into thatbuilding now, they're walking into
so much history that, you wouldn'tknow just to walk through the door.
(16:41):
I've been in there and I didn'teven know that little piece, so
thank you for sharing all that.
Tara Wink (16:45):
Absolutely.
I am by no means anauthority on Davidge Hall.
Uh, but it is such a unique building,and the fact that it's still being
used for the purpose of educationis You know, it makes me so happy
in the fa- and that it's getting therenovation that it so desperately needs.
It's- truly a treasure on ourcampus, but also for Baltimore
(17:06):
and the s- and the country,
Dana Rampoll (17:07):
and that it's been there for more than 200 years-
Yeah … reflecting on what you said.
Another story that I love about, um,the library's history begins with a
physician's book collection, which isvery different from what we've been
talking about, and that sounds maybesmall at first, just one collection,
but it did become something much bigger.
Can you tell that story?
Tara Wink (17:29):
Absolutely.
Uh, I did allude to this.
Uh, Davidge Hall did have a library,and that library was established
in 1813, and the HSHSL traces ourhistory to that date as well, so the
HSHSL is over 200 years old as well.
That collection was actually purchasedfrom Dr. Crawford, John Crawford.
(17:51):
Uh, he was a physician in Baltimore.
He was actually born in Ireland in 1746.
Spent some time in the Navy asa physician/surgeon, um, and
then came to Baltimore in 1796.
Prior to his connection to UMB, he wasa vaccine physician and was responsible
(18:13):
for vaccinating for smallpox, which was,at that time, actually revolutionary
and important relatively new vaccine.
Um, so he was a vaccine physicianin Baltimore, and he was also
instrumental in establishing theBaltimore Dispensary, kind of like
an early hospital for people whocould not afford medical care.
(18:36):
Um, so poor people could getthe medical care they needed.
Um, and he was one of thefounders in 1801, so before UMB.
Uh, he believed or was studyinga concept which today doesn't
seem so foreign but at the timewas revolutionary, and it did
lose him some trust and, uh,relationships in the medical world.
(19:01):
Uh, the theory was that diseases werecaused by little insects or worms-
close to germ theory, if you will.
Um, so that's, that's what he believed,and he was studying that, um, beginning
in, I believe it was 1807, and hestudied that until his death in 1813.
And again, the medical professionjust couldn't wrap their head around
(19:25):
this, this early germ theory concept.
So he did die relatively poor as aresult, but he was hired by UMB to
be a lecturer in natural history.
That's his connectionto, uh, the University of
Maryland's School of Medicine.
So he was a faculty memberuntil his death in 1813.
He was also a bibliophile anda, had a wonderful collection
(19:49):
of volumes on medicine, but morecentrally focused on natural history.
So medicine and natural historykind of go hand-in-hand.
And the faculty of the School ofMedicine understood the value of
this collection, and at his death,purchased it from his daughter,
Eliza Godefru- Godefroy for $500.
(20:11):
So it's actually pretty,pretty expensive at the time.
Wow.
Um, I don't have the exact numbers bytoday's money, but it wasn't nothing.
Uh, and it was roughly…We don't actually know all the volumes
that were part of that collection.
We have a lot of volumes thathave his signature in them or
have his bookplate in them.
Um, but the collection todayis over 500 volumes, so.
Dana Rampolla (20:35):
Wow.
Tara Wink (20:35):
Yeah.
Books were added to the collectionand added to the library after that
initial collection was purchased, butthey believe there were between 350
and 400 volumes purchased for $500.
And it was believed to have beenthe largest medical library in
Baltimore when he passed away.
So a large, important collection.
(20:56):
The School of Medicine recognizedthat value and pooled their money,
it was actually their personalmoney, together to purchase this
collection for the university.
And there's some indication, it'snot, there's no proof, and it's hard
to prove this, that our library isactually the first library associated
with the School of Medicine whichis really, you know, it's really
(21:16):
inspirational and important to, um, thatour faculty recognized that a library
was important for a school of medicine.
Dana Rampolla (21:28):
So interesting.
So you were, you were saying thatpeople weren't really buying into
the whole germ theory at that time.
So what kinds of books or materialswould have mattered that he may
have had in his collection tophysicians and students at that time?
Tara Wink (21:42):
Sure.
So there's some well-knownnames in his collection.
There is a volume, if nottwo, on Hippocrates, that
Hippocrates has written.
Had written.
Yeah, he wrote it andthen it was transcribed.
Galen, who's an anatomist.
Uh, a lot of… So anatomy textswhich include sketches and drawings
of the human body to teach anatomy,again, 'cause dissection isn't
(22:05):
exactly common or easy to do.
So hum- uh, the anatomy textswere printed so that people
could learn about the body.
Uh, and these are, I mean,dare I say beautiful.
But they are really truly beautiful'cause real artists are drawing the
human body and the insides of thehuman body, the, the different, the
(22:27):
circulatory system the skeletal system.
All of that is being hand-drawnby artists, and then they're,
they're absolutely stunning pieces.
In addition to that, likeI said, natural sciences.
So biology things likethat are in his collection.
Big names in medicine are there.
So William Cullen, Albrecht vonHaller, Carl von Linne, and Herman,
(22:53):
I'm gonna butcher this last name,Bleib, all are in that collection.
And, you know, so the facultyrecognized the names and
recognized the importance of it.
So medical knowledge at the timeit was based on the four humors.
So I'm, I'm not g- I don't rememberall of those, and I'm not gonna
like get through all of those, butthat, that was the concept of like
(23:14):
it was kind of spiritual in nature.
Like, if one of the four humorswere out of line, then that's why
you got sick, and it wasn't germtheory or, or anything outside of
the body that was causing illness,but it was something within you.
So bloodletting techniques to get ridof that evil or that kind of thing
was, was what was in these volumes.
Dana Rampo (23:36):
Tara, one thing that surprised me is that UMB has a number
of ties to presidential history, andthey're not just about presidents
visiting Baltimore or sending letters,which we learned so much about in,
you know, m- elementary and middleschool, but they were physicians
connected to the School of Medicine.
There were physicians connectedto the School of Medicine who
actually cared for US presidents.
(23:57):
So I'd love it if you would sharesome of, you know, like, who those
people are and what their storiestell us about UMB's national reach.
Tara Wink (24:05):
Sure.
I actually wrote a blog post aboutthis a couple years ago and highlighted
two doctors and one dentist whowere private physicians to our
Founding Fathers or US presidents.
The most notable wasDr. Robley Dunglison.
Uh, he was a School of Medicinefaculty member from 1833 to 1836.
(24:27):
He was actually dean of the Schoolof Medicine from 1834 to 1835.
He was from England but educatedin Germany and was, and came over
to the United States, where he wasrecruited to found the University
of Virginia's Medical School.
(24:47):
So through that, he was recruitedby President Thomas Jefferson
to, to found the school.
Um, and then he became the privatephysician to President Jefferson
through his life, and was actuallyby his bedside when he passed away.
And rumor has it that PresidentJefferson was afraid of doctors, but
(25:08):
he had a profound respect for Dr.
Dunglison.
And actually, Dr. Dunglison changedhis view of doctors, and I guess there
might have even been a friendship there.
Uh, after being the, the, the physicianto President Jefferson, uh, he also
later was to, um- President Monroe,uh, President Jackson, and Madison.
(25:34):
And all of those were throughhis connection with UVI.
So that initial connection and thatinitial trust that President Jefferson
had for him led to him being a physicianto three other presidents of the United
States, uh, which happened to alsobe founding fathers of this country.
Uh, the other, uh, doctor wasDr. James Julius Richardson.
(25:57):
Uh, he was actually a graduate ofthe School of Medicine class of 1889.
He set a practice in DC after travelingto Europe to get additional medical
education, which was not uncommonto go and, like, experience, uh,
other… experience medicine inEurope after getting a degree here.
(26:18):
Kinda like doing yourresidency is today.
And then he returned to- Think
Dana Rampolla (26:23):
about that, back then traveling-
Tara Wink (26:25):
Yeah, I know
Dana Rampolla (26:27):
to Europe was different than, you know, doing
Tara Wink (26:28):
it- 1889, you're traveling across the coun- across
the- Geez … the Atlantic on aship that was not moving very fast.
So unbelievable.
And the, the money that, that youwould have had to have to do that too.
This wasn't something that acommon person could afford.
Yeah.
I would l- I wish that a timetraveling thing existed, because boy,
(26:54):
would it help make my job easier.
I have so many questions.
Um, but anyway, I digress.
Uh, so he, um, came back to DC toset up practice, and then became
the personal physician and throatspec- specialist to President
William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt,William Howard Taft, and Warren G.
Harding.
(27:15):
So he traveled with those candidatesand helped ease their throat and
teach them how to be good speakersand use their voice for oration
and, and bringing people togetherin their political campaigns.
Dana Ra (27:30):
That is so interesting.
Who would even think that they wouldrely on someone to help them do that,
who's also a doctor t- teaching them totake care of themselves so they can do
all of those things, I'm sure, and tostay healthy on the campaign trail or
the political forefront at that time.
Tara Wink (27:48):
It's a… Yeah, it's a, it's a different side of being
a medical professional, for sure.
Yeah.
Dana Rampolla (27:55):
Well, let's, let's move away from the
political talk and, uh- Yes,
Tara Wink (27:59):
please… Dana Rampolla
Shifting gears a little bit back, wetalked about UMB's past, so let's tie
that a little bit, to current times.
The university's story obviouslydidn't stop way back in, 200 years ago.
So when you think about the threadfrom Davidge Hall to today, what
are one or two examples thatshow that legacy continuing?
(28:22):
So certainly hands-onlearning service learning is there.
There's lots of examplesthroughout history of, you know,
UMB faculty, students, staffproviding service to this country.
Um, during World Wars I and II UMBand Johns Hopkins University actually
established, um, general hospitals, itwas actually General Hospital Number 42,
(28:48):
uh, in both wars, that were primarilystaffed by physicians, nurses, dentists,
pharmacists from UMB and Hopkins andthey served to help the Allies save
their soldiers and keep them healthy.
They built up, they built tenthospitals in different parts of
(29:12):
the world to provide that service.
So, I mean, service is an importantpart of UMB's history as well.
I mean, we see it today, too, in theway that we stepped up during COVID to
provide vaccines, uh, to lead vaccineresearch, There's other examples of
that throughout our history, and it,it can be found in the archives too.
Dana Rampolla (29:34):
Tara, what story am I leaving out that, you know,
you spend so much time with thesematerials and these stories.
Is there one artifact or a documentor a book or, you know, a story of
an alum possibly in that collectionthat still makes you pause and think,
"This is why this work matters"?
Tara Wink (29:51):
Oh my goodness, there's so many.
I had a hard time choosing just one.
I mentioned earlier the oldest volume,so the oldest volume from 1497.
And this is a … This actuallyties back into the last response
as well, the volume was for sale.
It was $50, and there was afaculty member in gross anatomy.
His name was Dr. Eduard Uhlenhuth.
(30:14):
He believed that the anatomy departmentshould have its own library to teach
students about anatomy so that they hadaccess to the best volumes on anatomy.
He found this book for sale for$50, but personally couldn't afford
to spend that money at the time.
It was 1930-ish, so GreatDepression, uh, not a lot of wealth.
And this v- he, he understood the,the value of this volume, so he
(30:37):
asked his colleagues in the school ofmedicine to contribute, and they did.
So they were able to purchasethis book from 1497, which we
still have in our collection.
And my favorite part about it hasnothing to do with the age of the
volume, but in the back, he had all ofthe faculty who contributed sign a piece
(30:57):
of paper, and that is now tipped intothe volume, so it's permanently part
of the volume and part of the history.
So I mentioned earlier, here'sthis volume that has many different
research components to it, butthat's the story behind it.
That's the piece that, like, makesme believe, like, it is worth
having because it is truly part ofa story that shows faculty coming
(31:21):
together to better student education.
Um, and it's still there.
You can view it, touch it today.
Otherwise, my personal favoritecollection, and I don't wanna spend too
much time on this are the yearbooks.
Our yearbooks are so valuableto teaching or to understanding
the history of UMB's campus.
Uh, they start in 1897,so unfortunately, we don't
(31:44):
have anything back to 1807.
But they highlight not just thestudents and their histories, but their
individualness, their personalities.
Um, they have artwork from students.
They have poetry and shortstories music from the students'
perspective, things that the studentshave actually created in these
(32:07):
yearbooks, at least the early ones.
And unfortunately, most of theschools stopped publishing them in
the early 2010s, and so it's, it'sa piece that's- Over 100 years of
history that we no longer get, butit's so important to understanding
the student experience at UMB.
And they, they are always my favorite.
(32:28):
No matter where I've worked,I've always loved yearbooks.
They're controversial, becausethink about how much has changed
in 100 years and what was okayat one point isn't okay today.
But that's still an important partof learning about our institution.
Dana Ra (32:42):
And history is history.
We can't, you know-
Tara Wink (32:45):
No… Dana Rampolla
We can just move on and, you know, learnfrom it, grow from it, all of that.
Correct.
Dana R (32:54):
Tara, before we head out I wanna ask you one parting question.
During America's 250th anniversary,which is why we decided to do
this episode, what do you hopepeople understand about UMB's
role in the country's story?
Tara Win (33:10):
In the grand scheme of things, UMB is kind of small, right?
But there's so many phenomenal doctors,pharmacists, dentists, nurses, social
workers, and lawyers that have comeout of our school and gone to the far
reaches of the world to do great things.
(33:31):
So we are very much an integralpart in America's history.
Um, we've had impacts across theworld, across medicine, pharmacy,
all of the other areas that we serve.
And even the smallestpiece is important.
It's why I do what I do.
(33:51):
I wanna collect everything from, like,the, the well-known doctors and the
well-known medical changes to thelittle-known story of, of the n- of the
common student who just, you know, came,was a doctor, and lived a normal life.
"Normal life." I thinkall stories matter.
(34:12):
All voices matter.
And they can all influence change.
Dana Rampolla (34:20):
Well, thank you, Tara, for helping to bring these
stories to life, and thank you forthe work that you do preserving them.
Tara W (34:27):
Thank you for having me.
Um, it was my pleasure to sharejust a little bit of what I
have and what I can offer.
Spea (34:38):
The UMB Pulse with Charles Schelle and Dana Rampolla is a UMB
Office of Communications and PublicAffairs production edited by Charles
Schelle, marketing by Dana Rampolla.
In the early 1800s, Baltimore was still a young
(00:03):
American city, and the UnitedStates was still defining what
its institutions would become.
Medicine looked very different then.
There were no antibiotics, noadvanced imaging, certainly no organ
transplantation, and no genomicmedicine, and AI wasn't helping
researchers ask new questions.
But here in Baltimore, a group ofphysicians believed medicine should be
(00:24):
taught through science, observation,and hands-on learning, and that belief
helped give rise to what is now theUniversity of Maryland, Baltimore.
And more than two centuries later, youcan still walk into one of the places
where that story began, Davidge Hall.
As the United States marks its250th anniversary, we're looking at
(00:45):
UMB's place in that larger Americanstory, not just through buildings
and dates, but through the people,collections, and discoveries, and
ideas that shaped medicine, health,law, social work, pharmacy, dentistry,
nursing, and public service.
Today, we're going into thearchives with someone who helps
preserve and uncover those stories.
Tara Wink is a historicalcollections librarian and archivist
(01:08):
with the Health Sciences andHuman Services Library at UMB.
Her work helps connect today'sstudents, researchers, and the public
with the records, books, artifacts,and stories that show how UMB's past
continues to inform its present.
I'm Dana Rampolla, and we arecelebrating UMB's impact on America
on this edition of the UMB Pulse.
Jena Frick (01:33):
You're listening to Maryland Baltimore, the UMB Pulse
So Tara,welcome to the UMB Pulse.
Tara Wink (01:49):
Thank you.
I'm happy to be here.
Dana Rampolla (01:52):
Before we get into some of your stories, I
wanna start with your work.
When people hear historical collectionslibrarian and archivist, they may
picture old books, dusty boxes,or things locked away in a vault.
But what does your jobactually look like?
What are you helping people discover?
Tara Win (02:10):
Well, there are a fair number of old books and dusty materials,
so it's not too far off, but there'sso much more, um, that's involved in
historical collections and archives.
I do have collections ofrare books that are unique.
Some maybe one of few volumesavailable in the world.
Our oldest book is actually 1497.
(02:32):
That's something everybody asks.
But we do have a really greatcollection of archival materials
that truly tells the history of UMB.
I usually say my job is to collect andtell the history of the University of
Maryland Baltimore, as well as some ofthe other schools that existed along
with UMB and then merged with us.
(02:53):
So it's a, it's a really diversehistory, uh, that spans over 200
years and, you know, is pretty muchintertwined with the city as well.
Yeah.
I do, I get to work with a lot ofdifferent people, so I get to work with
people at the university, but I alsoget to work with people outside of UMB.
Uh, a lot of the questions thatI answer are community questions,
(03:16):
so genealogical questions aboutfamily members who have gone to
school here and things like that.
But there's a lot of differentconversations that happen and things
that I, I get to do as an archivist.
Um, it's not just reading books or,you know, hoarding, if you will.
(03:38):
Um, it's a lot more, uh, really tellingthe history, getting the information
out there in different capacities.
So through things like this orblog posts or social media posts.
Uh, digitization is also reallybig, so there's a lot of technology
involved in archives as well.
We, we scan materials and we put themout onto the internet so that people can
(04:00):
access, access them without having tocome to UMB, and that's, that's been a
game changer in the world of archives.
It allows people to interact withthings that they could only do
by coming to campus at one point.
So, um, that's a big part of myjob as well is getting more and
more resources available online andaccessible for people around the world.
Dana Ram (04:24):
And when someone comes to you with a research question from
either here in Baltimore or aroundthe world, like you said, how do you
help them start to look for answers?
Tara W (04:32):
It really depends on the type of question that's being asked.
And usually a lot of our questionsinvolve our graduates, and we do have
a database of our graduates in thelibrary that we've created through
a variety of different sources.
We have a collection of commencementprograms, we have catalogs, academic
(04:53):
catalogs that tell you, like, thecourse requirements, the costs,
as well as the students thatattended, um, newspaper articles.
So we've used those to createa, a database where people
can search for our graduates.
Um, and it's pretty up-to-date.
And again, a lot is availableonline, so I can, you know, search
our digital archive for the, fora variety of different things.
(05:15):
And that's ultimately usuallywhere I start 'cause most of our
questions can be answered throughthings like our annual catalog,
the yearbooks newsletters thingslike that are available online.
And then it involves physicallydigging through papers.
And I have a lot of spreadsheets.
(05:37):
A lot of spreadsheets in archives aswell as things called finding aids,
and finding aids are what we createso that users know what we have in
our collections and how they canbe used and how they're organized.
So there's a few finding aids availableonline that people can look through and
see, you know, what collections contain.
Dana Rampolla (05:56):
The archives aren't just a museum of the past.
They're really a way of askingnew questions about the past.
Tara Wink (06:03):
Correct.
Yeah.
I think there's so many differentresearch questions that you
can ask from one object.
Our oldest book, forexample, is our oldest book.
It's from 1497.
It's an example of incunabula, whichis any book pu- published before 1500.
Um, so there's that kind ofresearch you can do with it.
You can do the research on the topic.
(06:23):
It's an- anatomy text.
But then it also has a reallyinteresting story behind it too.
So there's all kinds of differentavenues that you can take with
just one object or one collection.
So yeah, any number ofquestions can be answered.
Dana Rampolla (06:39):
And you mentioned stories, so let's jump into that.
UMB was founded in 1807,just a few decades after the
founding of the United States.
When we talk about UMB in the contextof America's 250th anniversary,
what should people understand aboutthe world that UMB was born into?
Tar (06:58):
If you think about it, 1807 is only 31 years after the founding
of our country, so our country isvery much still in its infancy.
Yes, there had been people here in theUnited States from Europe and other
nations, um, before that, and of course,like Native Americans were here as well,
but our country was founded in 1776.
(07:20):
UMB is founded in 1807.
It's, it's not much after thatyoung country was established.
So there's still a lot ofunknowns about what's what is
this country gonna look like, whatare we going to be as a nation?
And we don't even haveour national anthem yet.
Our national anthemis, is written in 1814.
(07:41):
So I mean, UMB is a predece- is, is, isbefore- … our, our national anthem.
It's, it's so, it's,it's something like-
Unique about us.
Baltimore was actually established in1729, so it is an older, older city, and
it's the third-biggest city at the time.
(08:01):
And it was established where itwas because of access to water.
So there's a lot of shipping, alot of people coming into the city
because there was access for that.
And water is wonderful, but italso brings a lot of issues.
And at the time, if we're thinking aboutwhat UMB is, it's a medical institution.
And so diseases are carried by water.
(08:24):
Diseases are there because ofmosquitoes, because of new people
coming in and bringing differentinfections and stuff like that.
So while water was an important aspectof Baltimore, it also did give rise to
the need for medicine and medical care.
Also sanitation.
(08:45):
We didn't understand sani-sanitation like we do today.
Water was very easily contaminatedby animal, human, industry waste.
Uh, we just didn't understand thatyou can't dump things into water
and then drink it and not get sick.
So there isn't a, there isn't asanitation like we have today.
No electricity.
(09:06):
It was gas-powered materialsand lights, candle, coal.
So dirty, I hate to say, but thecity was dirty, and most cities were.
That wasn't, it wasn'tunique to Baltimore.
It was actually safer to drink, like,beer or liquor instead of water because
of all of these different things.
(09:26):
Um, and medical knowledge andmedical profession was also
very much in its infancy.
We didn't understand howdiseases were spread.
Germ theory wasn't existing.
Um, we didn't, we didn't get it.
And so UMB is established in that,you know, wanting to learn more about
(09:47):
the human body and health and makingsure people are safe and hoping
to keep life expectancy longer.
I'm actually 41, and that w-would've been old in 1807.
So I mean, it, the lifeexpectancy was, is very much
different from what it is today.
A lot of infants didn'tmake it through infancy.
Just a different world and-UMB is born into that
Dana Rampolla (10:10):
And you've, you talked about illness and
about people just not knowing.
So what was actual medica- medicaleducation like then at that time?
Tara Wink (10:20):
So UMB is the fifth oldest medical school in the country.
Uh, it's the firstpublic medical school.
The first school was establishedin 1765, uh, so it's still like,
like the US, it's in its infancy.
They're still, not sure whatmedical education needs to entail.
UMB was unique in that thefounders believed that dissection
(10:42):
and anatomy was very importantto learning about the body.
So they very early on made itcompulsory, and a lot of other
schools didn't have that requirement.
They didn't have opening up thebody and looking through it and,
and learning about it as somethingthat was necessary to understand it.
Also a lot of doctors didn't havea degree, so a lot of the medical
(11:04):
professionals in, in this countrydidn't have a formal education.
So it wasn't viewed as nece-necessary to be a doctor until later.
In Baltimore alone, there was,there is a medical society.
So MedChi is here in Baltimore,and it's the state medical society.
It was founded in 1799, and the timeof its founding, only 19% of its
(11:26):
members actually had a medical degree.
So think about that.
We … you're talking about aprestigious medical society, and
it … They're recognizing theimportance of medic- medicine in
Baltimore, and they're also theones driving medical education
in Baltimore, and only 19% of themembers had any sort of formal degree.
(11:47):
So how did you get it?
How did you become a doctor?
You apprenticed with other peoplewho were practicing it, and, who
knows where they got their education,where they got their information,
and you were learning from that.
So it was, it was like apassed down type tradition.
And the founders of UMB recognizedthat, no, this was an important thing
(12:08):
and we needed to have some sort ofdegree so that you could trust doctors.
Dana Rampolla (12:16):
So UMB's founding wasn't just a local milestone.
It was part of a larger momentwhen the country was still
building its professional andscientific and civic institutions.
Tara Wink (12:27):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Dana Rampolla (12:28):
So interesting.
One of the most visible links tothat early history that we have
here on campus is Davidge Hall,which opened in 1812, and it's
still part of UMB today, undergoinga big renovation at the moment.
For someone who's never visitedDavidge Hall, what was it built to do?
Tara Win (12:45):
So it was really meant to do everything for the school.
It was a building that … Itwas the only building on campus.
It was the only space available.
So what does a universityor a college do?
It educates, so therewas space for education.
So there still are two verylarge lecture halls, uh, Chemical
Hall and Anatomical Hall whichwere meant so students could
(13:08):
learn from a faculty member.
There, it's in this amphitheaterseating, so kinda like this.
Students sat in, sat up, and the facultywas on, on the ground lecturing up.
It allowed for some, like,showcasing, so you could-
presumably dissect a person there.
(13:30):
Uh, they weren't doing that.
Again, I alluded to this earlierwhere dissection was, was something
that you had to do in private.
Um, uh, and actually Davidge, JohnBeale Davidge, was one of our founders.
Davidge Hall wasn't calledDavidge Hall to begin with.
We actually named it in honorof him m- much later on.
Um, but the hall was built in responseto he had had, um, his own space
(13:56):
in his house, and he was teachingdissection, and the townspeople found
out about it and destroyed his home,uh, because they were so upset and
outraged by somebody dissecting a body,um, for any sort of use or purpose.
They didn't… It wasn't… Again,the body was sacred, and there's
religious tones to that as well.
(14:16):
So, um, Davidge Hall had privateentrances and passageways and
hidden staircases so that theycould easily move bodies into the
building and then hide the studentsand faculty who were performing
dissections for anatomical study.
Dana Rampolla (14:34):
Oh, interesting.
Tara Wink (14:36):
Yeah.
And this had to, this happeneduntil, um, the 1880s when anatomy
law was passed allowing foraccess to bodies for medical use.
So a good portion of our time as aninstitution, this had to be done in
private, and they had to acquire bodiesin ways that were ille- were illegal
(14:59):
or maybe not ethical, well, definitelynot ethical, um, in order to…
And ethical by today's standards anyway.
At the time, like, it's whatyou had to do in order to learn.
Um, so Davidge Hall was built in orderto allow for this type of activity.
Um, the walls are very thick.
(15:21):
Uh, it's brick.
It was cold becausethere's no central heating.
There's no electricity, so it's cold,and there's that smoke in the air from
the heating com- heating componentbut also from candles and oil lamps.
So think about that smell alongwith human bodies being dissected.
Um, so much like the city, it's not, notideal for, today, by today's standards,
(15:47):
but that's what they, th- that's what itwas built for and built to, to handle.
Um, there was a library.
Um, our library was first in thatbuilding as well, um, and that,
that was established in 1813.
Um, but it also was a space for facultyto be and students to be And learn
Dana Rampolla (16:08):
Wow, you've touched on so many interesting…
I did not know that he actuallyconducted dissections in his home.
Yeah And as a former bio major whodid a lot of anatomy, including
dissecting a cadaver, that just-
Tara Wink (16:20):
Oh, my goodness.
I
Dana Rampolla (16:21):
didn't know that … I mean, I just think how
I felt that day walking into class,and to think about having that,
you know, in your living room.
"Come on in, students, let's learnhere." I just, that's overwhelming
and incredibly interesting.
Um, when people walk into thatbuilding now, they're walking into
so much history that, you wouldn'tknow just to walk through the door.
(16:41):
I've been in there and I didn'teven know that little piece, so
thank you for sharing all that.
Tara Wink (16:45):
Absolutely.
I am by no means anauthority on Davidge Hall.
Uh, but it is such a unique building,and the fact that it's still being
used for the purpose of educationis You know, it makes me so happy
in the fa- and that it's getting therenovation that it so desperately needs.
It's- truly a treasure on ourcampus, but also for Baltimore
(17:06):
and the s- and the country,
Dana Rampoll (17:07):
and that it's been there for more than 200 years-
Yeah … reflecting on what you said.
Another story that I love about, um,the library's history begins with a
physician's book collection, which isvery different from what we've been
talking about, and that sounds maybesmall at first, just one collection,
but it did become something much bigger.
Can you tell that story?
Tara Wink (17:29):
Absolutely.
Uh, I did allude to this.
Uh, Davidge Hall did have a library,and that library was established
in 1813, and the HSHSL traces ourhistory to that date as well, so the
HSHSL is over 200 years old as well.
That collection was actually purchasedfrom Dr. Crawford, John Crawford.
(17:51):
Uh, he was a physician in Baltimore.
He was actually born in Ireland in 1746.
Spent some time in the Navy asa physician/surgeon, um, and
then came to Baltimore in 1796.
Prior to his connection to UMB, he wasa vaccine physician and was responsible
(18:13):
for vaccinating for smallpox, which was,at that time, actually revolutionary
and important relatively new vaccine.
Um, so he was a vaccine physicianin Baltimore, and he was also
instrumental in establishing theBaltimore Dispensary, kind of like
an early hospital for people whocould not afford medical care.
(18:36):
Um, so poor people could getthe medical care they needed.
Um, and he was one of thefounders in 1801, so before UMB.
Uh, he believed or was studyinga concept which today doesn't
seem so foreign but at the timewas revolutionary, and it did
lose him some trust and, uh,relationships in the medical world.
(19:01):
Uh, the theory was that diseases werecaused by little insects or worms-
close to germ theory, if you will.
Um, so that's, that's what he believed,and he was studying that, um, beginning
in, I believe it was 1807, and hestudied that until his death in 1813.
And again, the medical professionjust couldn't wrap their head around
(19:25):
this, this early germ theory concept.
So he did die relatively poor as aresult, but he was hired by UMB to
be a lecturer in natural history.
That's his connectionto, uh, the University of
Maryland's School of Medicine.
So he was a faculty memberuntil his death in 1813.
He was also a bibliophile anda, had a wonderful collection
(19:49):
of volumes on medicine, but morecentrally focused on natural history.
So medicine and natural historykind of go hand-in-hand.
And the faculty of the School ofMedicine understood the value of
this collection, and at his death,purchased it from his daughter,
Eliza Godefru- Godefroy for $500.
(20:11):
So it's actually pretty,pretty expensive at the time.
Wow.
Um, I don't have the exact numbers bytoday's money, but it wasn't nothing.
Uh, and it was roughly…We don't actually know all the volumes
that were part of that collection.
We have a lot of volumes thathave his signature in them or
have his bookplate in them.
Um, but the collection todayis over 500 volumes, so.
Dana Rampolla (20:35):
Wow.
Tara Wink (20:35):
Yeah.
Books were added to the collectionand added to the library after that
initial collection was purchased, butthey believe there were between 350
and 400 volumes purchased for $500.
And it was believed to have beenthe largest medical library in
Baltimore when he passed away.
So a large, important collection.
(20:56):
The School of Medicine recognizedthat value and pooled their money,
it was actually their personalmoney, together to purchase this
collection for the university.
And there's some indication, it'snot, there's no proof, and it's hard
to prove this, that our library isactually the first library associated
with the School of Medicine whichis really, you know, it's really
(21:16):
inspirational and important to, um, thatour faculty recognized that a library
was important for a school of medicine.
Dana Rampolla (21:28):
So interesting.
So you were, you were saying thatpeople weren't really buying into
the whole germ theory at that time.
So what kinds of books or materialswould have mattered that he may
have had in his collection tophysicians and students at that time?
Tara Wink (21:42):
Sure.
So there's some well-knownnames in his collection.
There is a volume, if nottwo, on Hippocrates, that
Hippocrates has written.
Had written.
Yeah, he wrote it andthen it was transcribed.
Galen, who's an anatomist.
Uh, a lot of… So anatomy textswhich include sketches and drawings
of the human body to teach anatomy,again, 'cause dissection isn't
(22:05):
exactly common or easy to do.
So hum- uh, the anatomy textswere printed so that people
could learn about the body.
Uh, and these are, I mean,dare I say beautiful.
But they are really truly beautiful'cause real artists are drawing the
human body and the insides of thehuman body, the, the different, the
(22:27):
circulatory system the skeletal system.
All of that is being hand-drawnby artists, and then they're,
they're absolutely stunning pieces.
In addition to that, likeI said, natural sciences.
So biology things likethat are in his collection.
Big names in medicine are there.
So William Cullen, Albrecht vonHaller, Carl von Linne, and Herman,
(22:53):
I'm gonna butcher this last name,Bleib, all are in that collection.
And, you know, so the facultyrecognized the names and
recognized the importance of it.
So medical knowledge at the timeit was based on the four humors.
So I'm, I'm not g- I don't rememberall of those, and I'm not gonna
like get through all of those, butthat, that was the concept of like
(23:14):
it was kind of spiritual in nature.
Like, if one of the four humorswere out of line, then that's why
you got sick, and it wasn't germtheory or, or anything outside of
the body that was causing illness,but it was something within you.
So bloodletting techniques to get ridof that evil or that kind of thing
was, was what was in these volumes.
Dana Rampo (23:36):
Tara, one thing that surprised me is that UMB has a number
of ties to presidential history, andthey're not just about presidents
visiting Baltimore or sending letters,which we learned so much about in,
you know, m- elementary and middleschool, but they were physicians
connected to the School of Medicine.
There were physicians connectedto the School of Medicine who
actually cared for US presidents.
(23:57):
So I'd love it if you would sharesome of, you know, like, who those
people are and what their storiestell us about UMB's national reach.
Tara Wink (24:05):
Sure.
I actually wrote a blog post aboutthis a couple years ago and highlighted
two doctors and one dentist whowere private physicians to our
Founding Fathers or US presidents.
The most notable wasDr. Robley Dunglison.
Uh, he was a School of Medicinefaculty member from 1833 to 1836.
(24:27):
He was actually dean of the Schoolof Medicine from 1834 to 1835.
He was from England but educatedin Germany and was, and came over
to the United States, where he wasrecruited to found the University
of Virginia's Medical School.
(24:47):
So through that, he was recruitedby President Thomas Jefferson
to, to found the school.
Um, and then he became the privatephysician to President Jefferson
through his life, and was actuallyby his bedside when he passed away.
And rumor has it that PresidentJefferson was afraid of doctors, but
(25:08):
he had a profound respect for Dr.
Dunglison.
And actually, Dr. Dunglison changedhis view of doctors, and I guess there
might have even been a friendship there.
Uh, after being the, the, the physicianto President Jefferson, uh, he also
later was to, um- President Monroe,uh, President Jackson, and Madison.
(25:34):
And all of those were throughhis connection with UVI.
So that initial connection and thatinitial trust that President Jefferson
had for him led to him being a physicianto three other presidents of the United
States, uh, which happened to alsobe founding fathers of this country.
Uh, the other, uh, doctor wasDr. James Julius Richardson.
(25:57):
Uh, he was actually a graduate ofthe School of Medicine class of 1889.
He set a practice in DC after travelingto Europe to get additional medical
education, which was not uncommonto go and, like, experience, uh,
other… experience medicine inEurope after getting a degree here.
(26:18):
Kinda like doing yourresidency is today.
And then he returned to- Think
Dana Rampolla (26:23):
about that, back then traveling-
Tara Wink (26:25):
Yeah, I know
Dana Rampolla (26:27):
to Europe was different than, you know, doing
Tara Wink (26:28):
it- 1889, you're traveling across the coun- across
the- Geez … the Atlantic on aship that was not moving very fast.
So unbelievable.
And the, the money that, that youwould have had to have to do that too.
This wasn't something that acommon person could afford.
Yeah.
I would l- I wish that a timetraveling thing existed, because boy,
(26:54):
would it help make my job easier.
I have so many questions.
Um, but anyway, I digress.
Uh, so he, um, came back to DC toset up practice, and then became
the personal physician and throatspec- specialist to President
William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt,William Howard Taft, and Warren G.
Harding.
(27:15):
So he traveled with those candidatesand helped ease their throat and
teach them how to be good speakersand use their voice for oration
and, and bringing people togetherin their political campaigns.
Dana Ra (27:30):
That is so interesting.
Who would even think that they wouldrely on someone to help them do that,
who's also a doctor t- teaching them totake care of themselves so they can do
all of those things, I'm sure, and tostay healthy on the campaign trail or
the political forefront at that time.
Tara Wink (27:48):
It's a… Yeah, it's a, it's a different side of being
a medical professional, for sure.
Yeah.
Dana Rampolla (27:55):
Well, let's, let's move away from the
political talk and, uh- Yes,
Tara Wink (27:59):
please… Dana Rampolla
Shifting gears a little bit back, wetalked about UMB's past, so let's tie
that a little bit, to current times.
The university's story obviouslydidn't stop way back in, 200 years ago.
So when you think about the threadfrom Davidge Hall to today, what
are one or two examples thatshow that legacy continuing?
(28:22):
So certainly hands-onlearning service learning is there.
There's lots of examplesthroughout history of, you know,
UMB faculty, students, staffproviding service to this country.
Um, during World Wars I and II UMBand Johns Hopkins University actually
established, um, general hospitals, itwas actually General Hospital Number 42,
(28:48):
uh, in both wars, that were primarilystaffed by physicians, nurses, dentists,
pharmacists from UMB and Hopkins andthey served to help the Allies save
their soldiers and keep them healthy.
They built up, they built tenthospitals in different parts of
(29:12):
the world to provide that service.
So, I mean, service is an importantpart of UMB's history as well.
I mean, we see it today, too, in theway that we stepped up during COVID to
provide vaccines, uh, to lead vaccineresearch, There's other examples of
that throughout our history, and it,it can be found in the archives too.
Dana Rampolla (29:34):
Tara, what story am I leaving out that, you know,
you spend so much time with thesematerials and these stories.
Is there one artifact or a documentor a book or, you know, a story of
an alum possibly in that collectionthat still makes you pause and think,
"This is why this work matters"?
Tara Wink (29:51):
Oh my goodness, there's so many.
I had a hard time choosing just one.
I mentioned earlier the oldest volume,so the oldest volume from 1497.
And this is a … This actuallyties back into the last response
as well, the volume was for sale.
It was $50, and there was afaculty member in gross anatomy.
His name was Dr. Eduard Uhlenhuth.
(30:14):
He believed that the anatomy departmentshould have its own library to teach
students about anatomy so that they hadaccess to the best volumes on anatomy.
He found this book for sale for$50, but personally couldn't afford
to spend that money at the time.
It was 1930-ish, so GreatDepression, uh, not a lot of wealth.
And this v- he, he understood the,the value of this volume, so he
(30:37):
asked his colleagues in the school ofmedicine to contribute, and they did.
So they were able to purchasethis book from 1497, which we
still have in our collection.
And my favorite part about it hasnothing to do with the age of the
volume, but in the back, he had all ofthe faculty who contributed sign a piece
(30:57):
of paper, and that is now tipped intothe volume, so it's permanently part
of the volume and part of the history.
So I mentioned earlier, here'sthis volume that has many different
research components to it, butthat's the story behind it.
That's the piece that, like, makesme believe, like, it is worth
having because it is truly part ofa story that shows faculty coming
(31:21):
together to better student education.
Um, and it's still there.
You can view it, touch it today.
Otherwise, my personal favoritecollection, and I don't wanna spend too
much time on this are the yearbooks.
Our yearbooks are so valuableto teaching or to understanding
the history of UMB's campus.
Uh, they start in 1897,so unfortunately, we don't
(31:44):
have anything back to 1807.
But they highlight not just thestudents and their histories, but their
individualness, their personalities.
Um, they have artwork from students.
They have poetry and shortstories music from the students'
perspective, things that the studentshave actually created in these
(32:07):
yearbooks, at least the early ones.
And unfortunately, most of theschools stopped publishing them in
the early 2010s, and so it's, it'sa piece that's- Over 100 years of
history that we no longer get, butit's so important to understanding
the student experience at UMB.
And they, they are always my favorite.
(32:28):
No matter where I've worked,I've always loved yearbooks.
They're controversial, becausethink about how much has changed
in 100 years and what was okayat one point isn't okay today.
But that's still an important partof learning about our institution.
Dana Ra (32:42):
And history is history.
We can't, you know-
Tara Wink (32:45):
No… Dana Rampolla
We can just move on and, you know, learnfrom it, grow from it, all of that.
Correct.
Dana R (32:54):
Tara, before we head out I wanna ask you one parting question.
During America's 250th anniversary,which is why we decided to do
this episode, what do you hopepeople understand about UMB's
role in the country's story?
Tara Win (33:10):
In the grand scheme of things, UMB is kind of small, right?
But there's so many phenomenal doctors,pharmacists, dentists, nurses, social
workers, and lawyers that have comeout of our school and gone to the far
reaches of the world to do great things.
(33:31):
So we are very much an integralpart in America's history.
Um, we've had impacts across theworld, across medicine, pharmacy,
all of the other areas that we serve.
And even the smallestpiece is important.
It's why I do what I do.
(33:51):
I wanna collect everything from, like,the, the well-known doctors and the
well-known medical changes to thelittle-known story of, of the n- of the
common student who just, you know, came,was a doctor, and lived a normal life.
"Normal life." I thinkall stories matter.
(34:12):
All voices matter.
And they can all influence change.
Dana Rampolla (34:20):
Well, thank you, Tara, for helping to bring these
stories to life, and thank you forthe work that you do preserving them.
Tara W (34:27):
Thank you for having me.
Um, it was my pleasure to sharejust a little bit of what I
have and what I can offer.
Spea (34:38):
The UMB Pulse with Charles Schelle and Dana Rampolla is a UMB
Office of Communications and PublicAffairs production edited by Charles
Schelle, marketing by Dana Rampolla.
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