The Special Collections and Archives Department, Wright State University Libraries maintains collections in local medical history of the Miami Valley, aerospace medicine and human factors engineering, archives of the School of Medicine and health-related departments and schools, and a rare book collection. It is the depository for the Archives of the Aerospace Medical Association, the Space Medicine Branch, the Flight Nurses Section, and the Society of NASA Flight Surgeons. Materials do not circulate, however, reference and digital imaging services are available.

Holdings:

Collections include the papers of Ross A. McFarland, the father of human factors engineering. Other collections include the Howard Hasbrook Aviation Crash Injury Research Collection, and the William Thorton Collection of Space and Life Sciences. Local and regional medical history is documented through collections of local physicians and hospitals, medical societies, and the WSU School of Medicine and College of Nursing and Health. A significant collection of rare books provides a unique resource for studying the history of health sciences. Especially strong in aviation medicine and high-altitude physiology, the collection also includes early American medical imprints, important works on medical jurisprudence, and books on nursing. An extensive collection of early medical instruments document medical practices and procedures over the past two centuries. Descriptions and finding aids to the collections are available online at https://www.libraries.wright.edu/special/.

Subject Strengths:

History of Hospitals; History of Medicine; History of Nursing; History of Preventive or Occupational Medicine

Last Updated:

24 Apr 2017