Description: The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery and National Museum of African American History and Culture acquired a portrait of Henrietta Lacks, the African American woman whose cells were unknowingly contributed to over 10,000 medical patents, aiding research and benefiting patients with polio, AIDS, Parkinson’s disease and other conditions. [via Smithsonian
Description: Each week, the Archives features a woman who has been a groundbreaker at the Smithsonian, past or present, in a series titled Wonderful Women Wednesday.
Description: Cancer, James T. Patterson observed in The Dread Disease, serves as a powerful metaphor in American culture, where the malady mirrors the “manifestation of social, economic, and ideological divisions” in modern life. In the decades since publication of Patterson’s book, medical research has made great strides in methods of detection and treatment. But the challenge for science
Description: Not only did the Smithsonian research in Washington, D.C., inform the course of World War II, the war also shaped the collections and research of the Smithsonian. Military medical staff sent thousands of specimens of disease carrying insects to the museum for identification. Soldiers stationed in far-flung locations provided the Smithsonian with collecting opportunities that