NIH Folklore

Every place has folktales of its own — stories of Bigfoot or buried treasure — even the National Institutes of Health.  We'll be adding such tales to this page, but, of course, we'll do historical research to let you know how much of a story is tale, and how much is truth.

FDR, the Wilsons, and the U. S. Naval Medical Center

These telephone operators for the NIH Clinical Center probably heard their share of tall tales.  C. 1953.  Image from the Office of NIH History and Stetten Museum.  Public domain.