The Office of NIH History & Stetten Museum at the National Institutes of Health

The NIH's roots date back to the 1790s and the Marine Hospital Service, which provided medical services to sick seamen. During the next century, a vast network of hospitals emerged, first along the Atlantic coast and then in the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Coast. In 1887, the Hygienic Laboratory for the study of bacteria was established at the Marine Hospital in New York, led by Joseph Kinyoun. In the 1920s, the Marine Hospital Service became the Public Health Services (PHS); and, in 1930, the PHS Hygienic Laboratory was re-designated as the National Institute of Health by the Ransdell Act. Over the next decades, the NIH budget grew substantially. In 1948, with the then-independent National Cancer Institute becoming a division of NIH, the name changed from National Institute of Health to National Institutes of Health.

It didn't take long before people realized the historical significance of the NIH. In the early 1950s, Louise Endicott, a long-time member of the NIH Scientific Reports Branch, asked to be appointed as an unofficial agency historian. She served that post until her retirement in 1956. In 1962, Dr. Wyndham Miles was appointed as 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., a past NIH Deputy Director for Science, proposed the establishment of a museum of medical research instruments to preserve the material heritage of biomedical research. In October 1986, this proposed museum, to be combined with a revived NIH History Office, was created. Dr. Victoria A. Harden was appointed NIH Historian and Curator. In May 1987, the museum was renamed in honor of Dr. Stetten. Then, in 2002, the organization was renamed the Office of NIH History with two components, the Historical Research Unit and the Stetten Museum.

Dr. Harden retired in 2006, and Dr. Robert Martensen served as the next director from 2007 through 2012, until his untimely death. The Office activities have 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 ONHM Positioned Among Other History-of-Medicine Repositories?

The Office of NIH History & 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 & 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.