The Office of NIH History and Stetten Museum

The history of history at the NIH is fragmented. It wasn't until the early 1950s that the NIH got an unofficial agency "historian" when Louise Endicott, a staff member of the NIH Scientific Reports Branch, asked to be appointed. She served in that capacity until her retirement in 1956. In 1962, Dr. Wyndham Miles became the first professional historian for the NIH. He served until 1974, when he moved to the History of Medicine Division at the NIH National Library of Medicine.

During the years leading up to the NIH centennial commemoration in 1987, Dr. DeWitt Stetten Jr., proposed the establishment of a museum of medical research to preserve the material heritage of the NIH. Stetten had first come to the NIH in 1954 as director of the intramural research program of the National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases. He left in 1962 to become the first dean of the Rutgers Medical School, but returned to the NIH in 1970 as director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. Stetten then became the senior scientific adviser to the NIH director from 1979-1986. A revived Office of NIH History was a component of his proposed museum and Dr. Victoria A. Harden was appointed NIH Historian and Curator. In May 1987, the museum was renamed in honor of Stetten.

Harden retired in 2006 and Dr. Robert Martensen served as the next director from 2007 through 2012, until his untimely death. The office has continued under acting directors.

Why Would the NIH Need to Establish a History Office?

The NIH biomedical and behavioral research community is an extraordinarily dynamic one, ever-changing with new technologies and the flow of talent from across the globe. The Office of NIH History and Stetten Museum helps to preserve the memory of who worked with whom, of when the work was conducted, and of what tools they used.

The establishment of an NIH History Office has allowed NIH scientists and others in the community to legally transfer historical properties to the Museum, where they can become part of our national legacy. The material heritage in our collections include instruments, objects, images, films, voices, notebooks, illustrations, and myriad documents. Most of the collection is held offsite in a protected warehouse. Increasingly, however, the Office has had the opportunity to present the collection on through exhibitions and displays on the Bethesda campus as well as through this website in a virtual fashion.

Historical resources preserved by the NIH History Office are of inestimable value to this and future generations of researchers. Some less-formal correspondence covering topics — such as policy, finance, public relations, hiring strategies of lab personnel, as well as milestone discoveries — can illuminate perspectives not captured in formal journal publications. Hand-written scribbles on the margins of obsolete drafts of publications can cast new light on a scientist’s, clinician’s, or administrator’s unique perspectives.

How is the Stetten Museum Positioned Among Other History-of-Medicine Repositories?

The Office of NIH History and Stetten Museum focuses its research and collecting specifically on the NIH research community — its people, its facilities and resources, its contributions to national and international research initiatives, and its interactions with scientific educational institutions and technology innovation centers.

Within the NIH, our Office shares the historical research and collecting imperative with sister organizations such as the NIH National Library of Medicine and the NIH Library. Beyond the NIH, the medical history organizations and institutions such as the National Museum of Health and Medicine, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, Medical History Division, or the History Office of the FDA are part of a network of historians, curators, and researchers who remain in contact and share resources so that all will have access to their narrative and holdings.

The Office of NIH History and Stettn Museum welcomes the opportunity to evaluate materials or objects for donation. Due to space constraints, the Office is selective in the types and formats of donations that fit the ONHM mission. However, if prospective donations fall outside the scope of our collection focus, we will gladly advise you on suitable repositories for your materials among our colleagues. Please see our "Get Involved" section of this website.

Search our collections online or contact the NIH Office of History Stetten Museum curator at museum@nih.gov.