New Medical Exhibit To Open in May at Fort
By Karen Gould

Exhibit designer David Kronberg looks into the oversized microscope which will be a part of the children’s hands-on display at the new Military Medicine at Mackinac exhibit at Fort Mackinac.

Exploring 19th century medicine, diseases, and injuries at Fort Mackinac is the subject of a new exhibit entitled, "Military Medicine at Mackinac.” Scheduled to open in May, the exhibit will be housed in Michigan's oldest hospital building, the 1828 Post Hospital inside Fort Mackinac on Mackinac Island.

“Our guests are excited to learn more about military medical practices of the 19th-century and how they compare with modern medicine,” said Steve Brisson, the chief curator at Mackinac State Historic Parks. “Fort Mackinac, with several prominent post physicians, including Dr. William Beaumont, and well-documented advances in medical treatment, is a rich place to explore the topic.”

The exhibit will include an interactive, hands-on children's area where visitors can listen to a giant stethoscope and peer into an oversized microscope. Display panels will contain information about the post doctors and feature original objects from Fort Mackinac. A dramatic 1846 period setting of the dispensary will feature post surgeon Joel Martin administering smallpox vaccinations to fort residents.

Visitors also will be able to look into the wardroom with patients, watch a virtual post surgeon make rounds, listen as he explains the symptoms of three perplexing cases, and then describes his alarming course of treatment. That is contrasted to a modern doctor’s explanation of how diagnosis and treatment is accomplished today.

“The best health advice for a soldier at Fort Mackinac in the early 1800s was don’t get injured and don’t get sick,” said Tim Putman, public relations and marketing officer for MSHP.

Laxatives, tonics, opium, and blood letting were common treatments of the day. Doctors at Fort Mackinac often were the only doctors on the Island, and treated the entire community.

Part of the exhibit will include an area where visitors can guess the uses of historic medical instruments, and learn about several prominent doctors who served at the post between 1781 and 1895.

Exhibit designer David Kronberg is working on the interactive displays, and actors who portray doctors and patients are being videotaped this winter for the exhibit. Park employees are installing projection equipment that will track across the room, setting up and adjusting lighting, adding barriers, and creating materials for hearing-impaired visitors.

The exhibit’s grand opening ceremony is scheduled for June 14.

It is funded with a $133,550 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the largest federal funding program for museums.

Fort Mackinac was built during the American Revolution by British soldiers in 1780, and has 14 original buildings dating to the 18th and 19th centuries. Michigan’s oldest surviving structures are at Fort Mackinac.