Wait, SYPHILIS Is the Reason Why We Have the Field of Dermatology?

UnTextbooked | A history podcast for the future

In this new miniseries we’re calling “UnTextbooking the Museum Collections,” we dive into the vast collections of the Smithsonian, the world’s largest museum complex, made up of 21 museums and the National Zoological Park, as well as research facilities. This week, producer Jenny Fan talks with curator Katherine Ott, PhD, about curating medical history at the National Museum of American History. They talk about skin – the cultural lens we view medical diagnoses, the evolution of studying skin, and why early dermatologists were obsessed with syphilis. Plus, why does the Smithsonian have 150-year-old feces in its collection?

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Show Notes:

00:00 - Introducing the “Untextbooking the Museum Collections”

2:18 - What does Dr. Katherine Ott research?

5:47 - History of skin and field of dermatology

9:57 - Early skin treatments & Syphilis

11:11 - Jean-Louis-Marc Alibert

16:36 - Dr. Albert Kligman & Prison Experiments

20:51 - How does a Smithsonian curator select what’s in an exhibit?

27:05 - Takeaways & Reflections