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The American Institute of the History of Pharmacy and the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Pharmacy are pleased to host the virtual, New Social History of Pharmacy & Pharmaceuticals Festival. The Festival will be a free online streaming event running from Thursday, September 24 through Tuesday, September 29, 2020.
More information and a preliminary schedule is available on the Festival website. Registration information will soon be forthcoming. For questions or more information, please contact: aihp@aihp.org.
This five-day interdisciplinary Festival aims to generate a discussion related to the under-explored social history of pharmacy and pharmaceuticals. We hope the contributed paper panels, books talks, and invited festival talks will stimulate/connect new scholarship as well as place a spotlight on emerging trends in the studies of pharmaceuticals, drugs, and alcohol more broadly. At the conclusion of the Festival, links to video recordings of the panels and presentations will be available.
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We are sad to report that Louis (Lou) Vottero, who served as AIHP’s Treasurer for more than 30 years, died on September 12, 2020, at his home in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada. He was 87.
AIHP’s President, W. Clarke Ridgway, paid tribute to Professor Vottero for his many contributions to the Institute: “Lou worked tirelessly for the Institute and should be credited with establishing the financial foundation that has enabled AIHP to weather many financial storms.” President Ridgway added: “He vigorously defended his opinions on many issues of importance to the Institute, particularly on those impacting practitioner members. He also had a passion for the education of future pharmacists in helping them develop a professional ethos.”
Professor Vottero received his undergraduate training in pharmacy at Duquesne University and earned an MS in pharmaceutical chemistry and pharmaceutics from The Ohio State University. Following his service in the US Army, he practiced community pharmacy in Pennsylvania and Ohio before joining the faculty of the College of Pharmacy at Ohio Northern University, in Ada, Ohio, 1966. He remained an active member of the faculty of that institution until his retirement.
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AIHP is pleased to announce that Professor Michael A. Flannery has received the 2020 Sonnedecker Prize for his article, “Government as Apothecary: Civil War Pharmacy and the Common Good.” The article was published in AIHP’s journal, Pharmacy in History (vol. 61, no. 1-2 (2019), pp. 3-14). The AIHP Glenn Sonnedecker Prize is awarded annually to recognize the best published article in a peer-reviewed publication during the preceding year on the history of some facet of pharmacy practice or pharmacy education in the United States.
"Government as Apothecary" examines how the operation during the Civil War of two US government laboratories (the Army laboratory in Philadelphia and the Naval laboratory in Brooklyn) influenced large-scale pharmaceutical manufacturing in subsequent decades. AIHP’s Awards Committee cited the article for its “sophisticated... approach to historiography…, [an] impressive command of the sources and a convincing and novel set of arguments about the origins of the American pharmaceutical industry as well as impacts on pharmacy practice.”
Read MoreFollowing a comprehensive review of the Institute’s awards program, AIHP’s Board of Directors has approved changes to three of the organization’s leading awards: the George Urdang Medal, the Edward Kremers Award, and the AIHP Glenn Sonnedecker Prize.
Starting in 2021, the George Urdang Medal will become a lifetime achievement award and will recognize a person who, over a sustained period of time, has made important scholarly contributions to the field of the history of pharmacy and pharmaceuticals.
The Edward Kremers Award will become the Institute’s primary award for recognizing significant publications and will be awarded to the author or authors of a specific book, or a series of related articles, in the field of the history of pharmacy and pharmaceuticals.
Starting in 2021, AIHP will sponsor an annual competition for the Glenn Sonnedecker Prize that will recognize the best submitted unpublished manuscript in the field of the history of pharmacy and pharmaceuticals. The author of the Sonnedecker Prize-winning manuscript will be awarded a $1,000 cash prize, and the manuscript will be published in AIHP’s scholarly journal upon successful completion of peer- and editorial-review processes.
Read MoreAIHP is pleased to announce that it has awarded five Certificates of Commendation to three individuals and two organizations for their notable contributions to the history of pharmacy.
The Institute’s Certificate of Commendation program recognizes projects and contributions that have either advanced knowledge or understanding of the history of pharmacy or that have used the history of pharmacy to educate, inform, entertain, or to address or advance understanding of contemporary issues.
The 2020 Certificate of Commendation honorees are:
Please click the link below to read more about the historical projects of the recipients.
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AIHP is pleased to announce the publication of Pharmacy in History volume 62, number 1 & 2 (2020)! This issue marks the beginning of the second volume edited by AIHP Historical Director and Pharmacy in History Editor in Chief Lucas Richert.
The lead article by Dr. Jacalyn Duffin, "The Yew Tree and the Crab: A Case Study of Big Pharma, Small Pharma, and an Anti-Cancer Drug," explores the travails of a small Canadian pharmaceutical manufacturer, which battled a large multi-national drug company for the right to produce an anti-cancer drug. Dr. Patricia Barton's article, "'Who Takes the Blame?': Retail Chemists, Doctors, and the Control of “Dangerous Drugs” in Inter-War Britain," discusses how the regulatory regime for "dangerous" narcotic drugs in early-twentieth-century Britain could criminalize the work of pharmacists.
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The American Institute of the History of Pharmacy is documenting and preserving pharmacy stories and experiences during the COVID-19 global pandemic for the benefit of future historians and scholars. We seek to record the effects of this public health emergency on all types of pharmacy experiences. We invite you to share your pharmacy stories, photos, videos, artifacts, and other documentation of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
You can participate in the AIHP COVID-19 Pandemic Pharmacy Historical Documentation Project either (1) by immediately sharing your thoughts/experiences and/or submitting digital materials or (2) by signifying your to intention to submit materials in the future. Please comply with all applicable local or state stay-at-home orders while self-documenting.
Please click the link below to learn more about participating in the AIHP COVID-19 Pandemic Pharmacy Historical Documentation Project.
Read MoreAccess the Pharmacy in History JSTOR Archive
All past issues of Pharmacy in History have been digitized and are text-searchable at JSTOR.
Upcoming events of interest to historians of pharmacy, pharmaceuticals, medicines, science, and related fields. (Event information current when posted. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, please double-check the status of all events):