Army Medical Museum and Library

The Army Medical Museum and Library (AMML) of the U.S. Army was a large brick building built in 1887. It stood at South B Street, now called Independence Avenue, and 7th Street, SW, in Washington, D.C., right on the National Mall. Over time, this building became very important for studying medical history.

In 1965, the building was named a National Historic Landmark, and a year later, in 1966, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. This showed how much people valued its role in preserving medical history.

Sadly, the building was torn down in 1969. The special collections that made it so important were sent to different places, but the memory of the museum and its work remains an important part of history.

History

The Army Medical Museum and Library (AMML) was built in 1887 in Washington, D.C., to hold important medical items and books for the U.S. Army. It was designed by architect Adolf Cluss and also held medical records and a school for medical training.

The collection started during the American Civil War in 1862, when the government began gathering medical items to help treat wounded soldiers. Over time, it grew and was moved to different buildings before settling in the AMML. In the 1960s, the Museum and Library moved to new places, and the old building was torn down in 1969 to make space for the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Today, the collection’s main home is the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Successor institutions

The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology was located on the campus of Walter Reed Army Medical Center from February 1955 until it closed on May 15, 2011.

The National Museum of Health and Medicine opened in Forest Glen Annex of Fort Detrick Silver Spring, Maryland on September 15, 2011. It is now part of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command.

The Library of Surgeon General's Office changed its name several times, eventually becoming the National Library of Medicine in 1956. It moved to the National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda, Maryland in 1961.