The 2012 Anton and Rose Zverina Lecture at the Dittrick Museum of Medical History will feature Stanley Burns, practicing ophthalmologist and clinical professor of medicine and psychiatry at New York University. Burns will present “Understanding and Unlocking the Past Through Iconic Photographs: Images from the Burns Collection- Medicine, War, Racism, Crime, and Memorial Photography.”
The Burns Collection, now with more than 1 million photographs, is generally recognized as the most important private collection of early vernacular photography (1840-1920). It includes the largest comprehensive collection of early medical photography 1840-1880. For his presentation, Burns will show iconic images that have been the highlights of his most notable books and exhibitions. The emphasis will be on medicine, crime, death and dying issues, Judaica, African American history, the Civil War and early photography. The goal of the lecture is to illustrate the critical role photographic documents have in education and collective memory.
The lecture will take place Thursday, Oct. 25, at 6 p.m. in the Allen Memorial Medical Library’s Ford Auditorium. More information can be found here.