Page:The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology-ItsFirstCentury.djvu/6

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FOREWORD

statements embracing all sides of medical experience which preserve to posterity the knowledge bought at so vast an expense."

With the passage of time. The Historical Unit became a separate organization. The Army Medical Museum kept its original name until after World War II when, in 1946, it was deemed appropriate to rename it the Army Institute of Pathology. At this time, the Scientific Advisory Board was organized. Through the years since then, the dedication of the outstanding scientists who have served on the Board has been a landmark of strength to the Institute in the guidance of its professional developments.

In 1949, the U.S. Navy and Air Force joined forces with the Army, so that the Institute became a total effort of the armed services under the executive management of The Surgeon General of the Army and the Secretary of the Army. It was redesignated the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology.

Through the years, many curators and directors and the staff of the Museum-Institute had a continued interest in, and intuition of, the history that they were making. Documents and records were carefully prepared and preserved. From the outset, the Institute played a leading role in national medical developments as well as being an integral part of the Washington medical scene. Its close association, throughout its history, with the medical schools of George Washington University. Howard University, and Georgetown University attest to its leadership in medical affairs of the area. From its beginning, the value of the Institute as a means of instruction of young military physicians was apparent. A photographic department was added to the Museum in 1863, and the pioneer work in America in medical photography and photomicrography was accomplished by the Museum staff.

From its early days, the Museum-Institute had been housed with the Army Surgeon General's Library, and the two remained under the same roof until 1955, when the latter, after a brief period as the Armed Forces Medical Library, became the National Library of Medicine. At the same time, the Institute acquired new quarters at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The location of the Institute at this great medical facility seemed appropriate, since Walter Reed had been for almost a decade, until his death in 1902. Curator of the Medical Museum. It was during his tenure that the Army Medical School was formed in the Museum building. In 1910, the School secured quarters of its own and eventually grew to become the great institution known today as the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. Out of World War I came the impetus for the training of pathologists and the growth of pathology in the United States to the status of world emi-