Centuries of Sharon medicine in show

SHARON — Medicine has been a big part of the community since Dr. Simeon Smith arrived in Sharon  in 1756 to focus on the controversial smallpox inoculation and on the professionalism of medical practitioners. 

The latest exhibit at the Sharon Historical Society explores three still-relevant medical controversies through the lens of time and local stories: vaccination, immunotherapy and physician gender equality.

The show is called “Sharon Cures: Centuries of Medicine in One Small Town,” and it will be on display through April 28. It was curated by Susan Shepard and Marge Smith.

“The exhibit is fascinating whether you are interested in medicine, or interested in history,” said Shepard, who researched the 20th-century portion of the project. 

The curators spent more than a year poring over vast amounts of period papers, many of which, fortunately, were digitized. They also spent countless hours reading physicians’ ledgers, obituaries, exploring graves, talking with relatives, collecting medical items and paraphernalia and historical photographs. 

“The more we read, the more fascinating it became,” Smith said.

The result is a comprehensive exhibit that relies strongly on large story boards and images.  

Yes, there is a lot to read. But there are also interesting and unique items that complement the words: a small metal leech carrier, an antique doctor’s wagon lantern, a gallipot, which was used to mix medicines, and a medicinal brandy bottle are artfully arranged in one display. A well-worn doctor’s bag, containing nitro, is safely sealed and under glass.

The main case displays a doctor’s head lamp, scales, syringes and other medical instruments as well as a late 1800s doctor’s medicinal carrying case holding dozens of vials filled with tablets, salts, potions and powders. On loan from Canfield Corner Pharmacy in Woodbury is a large antique glass apothecary jar with ruby liquid inside. 

“Every pharmacy had one in its window,” in different colors, said Shepard, so that the illiterate could distinguish the pharmacy from other businesses. “Just like the old barber poles identified barber shops.”

Other focuses of the exhibit, which fills two rooms and spills out into the hallway, include histories on two local doctors who made significant national contributions. 

The exhibit, said organizers, highlights several issues that are as important today as they were back then, like the vaccine debate. 

“The millennials who are the primary movers of the anti-vaccination movement never had to live through any of these major epidemics and infectious diseases,” said Smith, who also stressed the importance of public support for ongoing research. 

 Upcoming Sharon Cures programs and events:

Jan. 26 at 2 p.m.: Curators’ Tour at Gay-Hoyt House, plus a round-table discussion about Dr. Josephine Evarts and more.

March 30 at 2 p.m.: Guided tour of Hillside Cemetery’s smallpox and other epidemic graves in the oldest section of the cemetery. Tours led by co-curators Susan Shepard and Marge Smith.

April 13 at (tentatively) 10 a.m.: Annual meeting of the Sharon Historical Society at Sharon Town Hall. Featured speaker is exhibit co-curator Susan Shepard on the topic of the smallpox epidemic in Sharon in 1784, plus the formation of the earliest American medical societies, here in Sharon.

May 4 at 2 p.m.: Susan Shepard will give a demonstration at Gay-Hoyt House on how early doctors made their own oils, salves and other medicines.

All programs and events are free. The museum is open Wednesday through Friday, noon to 4 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and by appointment.

For more information call 860-364-5688, email director@sharonhist.org, or go to www.sharonhist.org.