Museum Minute Vol. 2 – National Museum of Health and Medicine

Museum Minute is written by Elle O’Flaherty. Elle lives in Mt. Pleasant and previously wrote about the Hillwood Estate.

Situated on the grounds of Walter Reed Ft. Detrick, the National Museum of Health and Medicine is a strange jumble of anatomical oddities and battlefield medicine.  The small, free museum houses slides of Einstein’s brain, the bullet that killed Lincoln, a surgically removed hairball, skeletons of all types, an elephantiasis sufferer’s leg, and more Civil War era bone cutting saws than you can shake a stump at.  In addition to loads and loads of the macabre, right now they have an exhibit on traumatic brain injuries which covers both war related and civilian injuries, including the controversy of concussions in professional sports.

NMHM only takes an hour or two to explore, but the ability to say “you’ll never believe what I saw this weekend” is worth it alone.  The museum is suitable for hardy kids and adults alike, but be warned that there is a large viewing window tucked in the back where staff carry out their work on weekdays.  All of their work.  The museum also has virtual exhibits that’ll give you conversational fodder without even hauling your keister to Forest Glen.