Digitized collections
The digitized collections of the Wangensteen Historical Library are freely available online through the UMedia Archive.
Selected collections
Wangensteen general collection
A collection of items from the general collection, including a series of large wall charts (Botanische Wandtafeln) used for lectures on plant anatomy and morphology circa 1900.
Historical photos
A collection of Wangensteen Library photo albums. These include albums from a field hospital, the Hôpital Temporaire arc-en-Barrois Haute Marne, France (1918) and Guy’s Hospital, London (1890).
Pre-modern East Asian history of medicine texts
This collection contains illustrated books and scrolls about early modern (pre-1800) medical knowledge and healing in Japan and China. The collection includes books on acupuncture, anatomical knowledge, disease treatment, medicinals and surgery.
Botanical images from the collections of the University Libraries
A digital collection titled Botanical Images from the Collections of University Libraries containing scans from three University of Minnesota Libraries: The Andersen Horticultural Library, Magrath Library, and the Wangensteen Historical Library of Biology and Medicine. Many images are single pages from woodcut herbals (1491 to 1633).
Clara Barton diaries
Clara Barton's diaries and folded documents from disaster relief efforts in Ohio (1884), the International Conference of the Red Cross at Geneva (1884), and Havana, Cuba (1898-1899).
Manuscript lecture notes
A collection of handwritten notes taken by physicians in training at various medical school lectures. Includes notes taken from the Philadelphia Hospital lectures of Benjamin Rush, M.D. (ca. 1791).
Medical receipt/recipe books
Handwritten medical and domestic receipt/recipe books (16th - late 19th century) in various languages. Recipes and advice for food preparation and preservation, animal husbandry, allopathic medicines and treatments for maintaining personal health shared between friends and family.
Toward an understanding of the history and development of the Caesarean section : the pioneering 19th century statistical methods of Philadelphia physician, Robert Patterson Harris (1822-1899)
Archive of manuscripts, letters and photographs of prominent medical statistician Dr. Robert Harris. Case studies and comparisons of methods of Caesarean sections and correspondence with physicians.
Hashika-e, Measles Posters
Illustrated woodblock prints that serve as a pictorial guide to combat measles outbreak and disease. Visual account of Japanese medicine in the late Edo-Period (1603-1868).
James Stuart An extensive archive of letters, primarily from James H. Stuart while on the North Pacific Exploring Expedition, 1848-1856
Archive of correspondence between James H. Stuart and his mother Margaret S. Forester, half-brother Benjamin L Forester, and other members of his family (1848-1856). Letters discuss experiences at medical school, his early medical practice and travels in the Pacific region aboard the ship "Porpoise".