Please come to the next meeting of the Washington Conservation Guild at MedChi in Baltimore on Thursday March 3, 2016. A conservator and a curator at the National Museum of American History discuss the history, conservation and exhibition of a self-made coal miner’s prosthetic leg.

Diana Galante is an objects conservator at the National Museum of American History where she treats artifacts for the West Wing of the museum. She will share her exploration of the prosthetic leg and how she met the challenges to preserve this unusual object while she also accommodated the vision of the curator.

Katherine Ott, PhD, is a curator in the Division of Science and Medicine at NMAH. She will discuss how to pull history out of objects such as the coal-miner’s prosthetic leg. From the point of view of a history curator, conservation decisions about the limb had to take into account disability politics, design history, DIY maker traditions, and the ultimate anonymity of the owner.

5:00 – 6:00 p.m. – Reception and Opportunity to View the Historic Medical Collections
6:00 – 7:00 p.m. – Speakers

The meeting will be held at MedChi, the Maryland State Medical Society, 1211 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD 21201

Please enter MedChi from Maryland Avenue. It is a brief walk from Baltimore Penn Station. To get there, exit the station and walk two blocks south on Charles Street. Turn right onto Preston Street. Walk one block and turn left onto Maryland Avenue. MedChi is a few buildings down on your right. There are 30 parking spaces at MedChi and a paid lot across Maryland Avenue. Trains departing Union Station at 3:23, 4:10, 4:20 and 4:25 will arrive in Baltimore at 4:26, 5:05, 5:11 and 5:20. There is a return train to DC at 7:35. Two Boots Pizza is nearby to fortify yourself for your return journey. The Cultural Center Light Rail station is also nearby.

This event is free to WCG members, $5 for guests & non-members.