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Official opening of Renovation Work Evening

A mock-up of the proposed function area on level 4 of the Mayne Medical building was the venue of an event hosted by the Executive Dean on May 8th.  A series of short presentations from various speakers including Dr John Bashford, Director of Research, Icon Group (and Alumni & Donor); Professor Darrell Crawford, Head Disc & Mayne Chair of Medicine and Ms Marni Jacoby, Faculty Executive Manager dealt with pat and present experiences in the building.

A virtual reality system was also set up, giving those attendees brave enough to do so, a better idea of what the completed room will look like.

The Museum was invited to set up a series of displays for the event, in spaces planned for the construction of new, state-of-the art cabinets for the collection.

The event was well attended by Faculty staff and others including distinguished guests Julieanne Alroe – Chair, Infrastructure Australia (UQ Senate Member); Dr Dimity Dornan – Hear and Say (UQ Senate Member) and Dr Jeffrey Forgan Smith (Donor – Faculty of Medicine).


Errol Solomon Myers Donation

Recently, the Museum accepted into the collections, artefacts belonging to and used by Errol Solomon Myers.  The occasion was a visit by James Myers, a descendant of Dr Myers.  The collection includes the WW1 surgical kit used by E.S. Myers on the Western Front and a collection of slides that he had made, probably whilst he was a first-year medical student at Sydney University.

James Myers’ maternal grandfather was A.G.S. Cooper, founder of the Queensland Radium Institute, and some of the material donated included some of Dr Cooper’s equipment also.

James Myers holding WW1 surgical kit
James Myers holding WW1 surgical kit

The Three Curators

The Museum warmly welcomed Merv Cobcroft who popped in for a visit in late May.  Merv was the Curator throughout the 1990’s and was its inaugural Curator upon being ratified by the UQ Senate as the ‘Marks-Hirschfeld Museum of Medical History’ in 1989.  Prior to this, the collection, under the guidance of Otto Hirschfeld was known as the ‘Museum of Medical Instruments’.

Merv was given a tour of the Museum’s current office, storage and display areas; including the recently made vermin-proof storage area in the Animal House.  Our tour finished with a visit to the Integrated Pathology Learning Centre (IPLC).  Merv recalled from his student days that the Pathology Museum ‘was a dark and dingy room.’  How surprised he was to see the state of the pathology collection now!  Overall, Merv was impressed to see that the Museum and its collections had not remained neglected and that things indeed had improved since he served as the Curator.

Merv Cobcroft and Jim Nixon pose with a portrait of Otto Hirschfeld
The Three Curators – Merv Cobcroft and Jim Nixon pose with a portrait of Otto Hirschfeld
Merv Cobcroft at the IPLC with the wheelchair that he helped to restored whilst he was the Curator
Merv Cobcroft at the IPLC with the wheelchair that he helped to restored whilst he was the Curator

 


2019 Anzac Service

This year’s ANZAC service was innovative in that the names of each of those listed on the Memorial Stone were read out, with a brief account of their service record. The Roll of Honour blended perfectly with the Museum’s annual ANZAC Day display which details the lives of each of those students who served and fell.

The Service was again well attended, and the Museum was delighted to have Mr Ron Purssey (brother of I.G.S. ‘Bill’ Purssey – one of the fallen) also present. Ron has kindly loaned to the Museum his brother’s Korean War era uniform and other memorabilia tracing ‘Bill’s’ career during World War II and the Korean War for the ANZAC display.

The display, ‘Stories in the Stone’ is open to the public until late November this year and is located just outside the Board Room on level 3.

Ron Purssey
Ron Purssey looks over his brother’s memorabilia in the ‘Stories in the Stone’ display

 

 


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