NSU Horizons Fall 2011

Glass cases containing artifacts such as bahnkes cups from 1610, a skeleton dating from 1910, and a Thomas Edison light bulb are among the items on display. The collection is known as the Health Museum of the Health Professions Division. The exhibit consists of 34 display cases scattered across the lobby. It’s usually the first thing visitors see when they visit the Health Professions Division. Artifacts represent each of the division’s six colleges—osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, optometry, allied health and nursing, medical sciences, and dental medicine. The museum is the only one of its kind at NSU. “The museum is a hidden treasure,” said its curator Cynthia Magalian Tupler, B.F.A. “Every item has a story. They paint a portrait of what health care was like long before our students were born.” Magalian Tupler’s father, Paul Magalian, R.Ph., Ph.D., a former NSU College of Pharmacy dean, started the museum in 1996 from his own extensive collection. What began as a humble showcase of health care memorabilia soon grew, thanks to word of mouth. Paul Magalian’s friends began donating their treasures, as did other health professionals, who wanted their artifacts on display for the public to see. Magalian’s daughter eventually took over as curator. She painstakingly researched, cataloged, and carefully arranged the items for display. “It’s important to preserve these items for future generations. I feel like I am a guardian of these pieces of antiquity,” said Magalian Tupler. 20 horizons Benjamin Martin’s drum microscope (circa 1900), donated by Stanley Warmbrandt Dental chest containing a set of molds for making anterior acrylic teeth (circa 1940), donated by Alvin L. Krasne, D.D.S., FICD Boy Scouts of America First Aid Kit showing manual, gauze package, water purification pills, and bottle of mercurochrome (1940), on loan from William D. Hardigan, Ph.D. Clear glass vapo-cresolena poison in Warnibg bottle (late 1800s), donated by Evelyn Salerno, B.S., Pharm.D.; and Johnson & Johnson Band-Aid tin (circa 1941–1945), donated by Alan Malachowsky B.S., M.S., R.Ph., Ph.D.