MAC exhibit addresses medicine in Spokane

Around the turn of the 20th Century, you could walk into the Stowell Pharmacy on Riverside Avenue and pick out a glass eyeball, available in 25 sizes and various colors.

At that time, when organized health care in Spokane was in its infancy, the pharmacy was central to medical care. People could get medical advice, along with drugs, tinctures, surgical supplies, toiletries and, of course, glass eyes.

“Before there was a population concentration, people depended on themselves and their home remedies,” says Martha Duskin-Smith, who helped put together an exhibit on the history of medicine in Spokane for the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture.

“Spokane Medicine: Heritage and Highlights” opened Saturday at the MAC and runs through April.

It tells the story of medicine in this area, through the innovative people who founded businesses, advanced technology and catered to the health needs of a growing population.

“Everybody thinks, especially in medicine, that everything is cutting-edge and new now,” says Marsha Rooney, the museum’s curator of history.

In reality, many things considered “trendy” today, such as natural foods and homeopathy, got their start in the middle of the last century, Rooney says.

The exhibit also addresses public health in Spokane, a growing issue as the area’s population grew.

“Very few people realize early on in the history of Spokane, contagious disease was a real threat,” Duskin-Smith says.

Contaminated food and water led to outbreaks of cholera and typhoid in the 1880s. And in 1885 the city passed an ordinance to ban the use of the Spokane River for bathing, clothes washing, or the disposal of hay, excrement, carcasses or garbage.

“It surprised me how early back people were talking about the river,” Rooney says.

Diptheria, whooping cough, scarlet fever, smallpox, tuberculosis and measles also spread through the community. And more than 1,000 residents died in the flu outbreak of 1918.

Those who visit the exhibit will have a chance to see a bottle of diphtheria antitoxin serum, as well as a case of glass eyeballs from Stowell Pharmacy, a lamp used to drive away evil spirits, antique prostheses, medical kits, a vibrating medical device and other objects.

The exhibit is just a small sample of Spokane’s rich medical history, Rooney and Duskin-Smith say. They hope to expand it into a larger display.

“It’s not on the schedule, but, yes, it needs to be done, a full gallery exhibit,” Rooney says.