Speculum (2019.06.010)

Speculum (2019.06.010)

Nebraska State Tuberculosis Hospital, Speculum, Nasal Speculum, Nasal Specula, Artifact, Dr. Burton Bancroft

Metal nasal speculum (a.k.a. specula). Object is silver metal colored and shiny, and still functions as it should. Object has two extended handles that you can squeeze that then open the top section.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: There is information about Dr. Burton Bancroft in the Frank Museum archives, as well as in the paper accession record. AW ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The earliest speculums date as far back as 79 AD, with both physical artifacts and records being found. The modern speculum, however, can trace its roots to the antebellum American South. A plantation doctor by the name of James Marion Sims invented the speculum so he could better treat gynecology issues on slaves, usually with surgery without any anesthesia. Sims would go on to treat higher class people in New York City, and later royalty in Europe. He would go on to become the president of the American Medical Association. Naturally he was highly respected at the time, leading to the adoption of his speculum. The wide adoption of speculums was also because of social trends of the time. It was considered “immodest” for a male doctor to touch female patients, and so the speculum allowed doctors to examine female patients without actually touching them. Speculums eventually made their way out of gynecology and began to be used in a variety of different fields, and as such a variety of different speculums were created to fulfill these new roles. This speculum is a nasal speculum. It is inserted into the nostrils so the doctor can examine the inside of the patient’s nose. There are a variety of reasons why a doctor would want to use a nasal speculum, from performing a septoplasty, to removing foreign objects, to diagnosing diseases. Though tuberculosis mainly affects the lungs, there have been cases of tuberculosis mainly affecting the nose, simply called “Nasal tuberculosis”. While it is rare, it was known about as far back as 1761. People with tuberculosis mainly affecting the lungs are more likely to get nasal tuberculosis. Debate has existed over the ethics of speculums since their use in the 1800s, but especially in the modern age (2022) given how there exists less-intrusive ways to look into the body. Information gathered from: Healthine (https://www.healthline.com/health/speculum) General Electric Healthcare/Voluson Club (https://www.volusonclub.net/empowered-womens-health/speculum-speculations-the-past-and-future-of-an-iconic-gynecology-instrument/) The Atlantic (https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/11/why-no-one-can-design-a-better-speculum/382534/) (https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/03/women-redesigning-speculum/555167/) The National Library of Medicine’s collection of the Caspian Journal of Internal Medicine (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3894473/). Information compiled by Logan Osmera.

ca. 1950s

For all objects in accession # 2019.06: Doctor's bag, medical equipment, medicine, and other items all originally belonged to Dr. Burton Bancroft who came to Kearney is 1956 and was the first trained surgeon in the community, according to John Bancroft- Dr. Burton Bancroft's son who found the the doctor's bag in a closet. The bag contained all of the items within accession record #2019.06. Dr. Bancroft occasionally provided aid to patients at the Nebraska State Hospital for Tuberculosis in Kearney, NE.

Metal Speculum