The seed for the Dittrick Medical History Center and Museum was planted in 1894 by the Cleveland Medical Library Association. Initially what is now the museum was a repository for local doctors’ collections.
Today The Dittrick (which is what locals call it) is an internationally respected museum with exhibits and programs that showcase:
- The museum’s collections, which run the gamut from one of the best microscope collections in the world to what is probably the most complete collection of contraception devices and literature on them in the United States.
- Individual artifacts, including surgical instruments, diagnostic tools and equipment and a child-size iron lung machine that makes me send up a prayer to Jonas Salk every time I see it.