American Institute of the History of Pharmacy

03/27/2026

📣 We’re Hiring!

AIHP is looking for a part‑time Communications Coordinator to support our administrative operations and help with website updates, content creation, and social media. This role is perfect for someone organized, detail‑oriented, and excited about strengthening our public presence.

📍 Based at the UW–Madison School of Pharmacy
🕒 Part‑time (up to 20 hours/week)
🚀 Start date: ASAP
👉 Apply by sending a resume and cover letter to aihp@aihp.org.

Learn more on our website! https://www.aihp.org/aihp-communications-coordinator-position-open/

03/26/2026

We are very excited to share a fully virtual museum exploring the history and future of pharmacy created by our friends at the Netherlands’ Nationaal Farmaceutisch Museum—and it’s now easy to view the entire site in English, Dutch, French, German, or Spanish.

One exhibition to be sure to check out is Prachtige Planten & Krachtige Kruiden (“Beautiful Plants & Powerful Herbs”), which takes visitors on a digital journey into the botanical origins of many historical and modern medicines, integrating cultural, scientific, and historical perspectives.

Come for the beautiful digital exhibits—and stay for the history.

https://www.nationaalfarmaceutischmuseum.nl



P.S. Turn your sound on when you visit exhibit for the full experience.

03/22/2026

In this installment of our Scholar in the Archives series, J.J. R. Strange uncovers a paper trail of friendship spanning thousands of miles.

These aren't just official documents; they’re Christmas cards sent by his former student, Hsing-Han Lei, to Prof. Edward Kremers. Look closely, and you’ll see Lei used both English and Chinese to convey his message, writing:

“Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, sincerely, your student Lei Hsinghan.” （恭賀新禧並祝聖誕，學生雷興翰鞠躬)

The AIHP archives are filled with these "little human moments." Even after returning to China, pharmacy students kept that bridge to their alma mater open. It reminds us that history isn't just about discoveries—it’s about the people who made them together.

Stay tuned as we uncover more global stories hidden in the stacks.

03/20/2026

✨ We’re thrilled to celebrate AIHP Executive Director Lucas Richert, who has been honored by the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) for his broad professional impact! 🎉

Luc—George Urdang Chair in the History of Pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Executive Director of the American Institute of the History of Pharmacy—was recognized for his decades of research, service, and innovation that continue to deepen public understanding of pharmacy’s history and shape the future of the field.

His leadership in exploring and interpreting the evolving role of pharmacy has made him an invaluable voice in the profession, and we are proud to see his work acknowledged on this national stage.

We also extend congratulations to fellow Badgers Amy Kennedy and Joel Farley, who were honored alongside Luc for their outstanding contributions to the profession.

Join us in applauding Luc on this well-deserved recognition! 👏✨

Professor Lucas Richert and alumni Amy Kennedy and Joel Farley are celebrated for decades of research, service, and innovation.

03/20/2026

Congratulations to all of the award recipients!

03/20/2026

✨ Take a spin back to 1925! ✨ Before Spotify playlists and smartphone notes, dancers had these gorgeous little cards to track every step of the night…

In this From the Archives, we present three variations of dance card covers. The dance was held by [org.] on February 12, 1925. Each of the dance cards include a list of songs, along with a place to write down their dance partner’s name. Also included was a small pencil attached with string, all color coordinated to match.
Source: Kremers Reference Files Collection, acp001, C32g Ephemera, American Institute for the History of Pharmacy

Archival surprises like this show how rich and varied the history of pharmacy really is. Beyond scientific milestones, it's filled with stories of students, practitioners, and social traditions—and we're here to make sure those stories aren't forgotten.

03/16/2026

Dose of History - The O***m Problem

In 1928, the book The O***m Problem, authored by Charles Terry and Mildred Pellens, was published by the New York City Bureau of Hygiene, marking one of the earliest comprehensive attempts to characterize drug addiction from a scientific standpoint. Long before the publication of The O***m Problem, however, concerns were increasing among the general public about o***m use.

In the second half of the nineteenth century, Americans writing about o***m would almost always frame it in racial terms. Recreational o***m use was largely associated with Chinese immigrant communities and was generally believed to be a foreign import despite the fact that o***m had been used on a large scale in the United States since the Civil War. The perceived racial inferiority of Chinese people was often cited as the root cause of drug addiction.

In contrast to Chinese o***m users, the medical press generally blamed systematic or socioeconomic factors when writing about White o***m users. Most sources around the 1880s and 1890s claim that o***m addicts obtained the drug through legal avenues and were often introduced to the substance by a doctor. Although some reports note that o***m use seemed to cross social boundaries, others claim women and the working class were the most common consumers of the drug.

In the nineteenth century there was little scientific research into the origins, demographics, or treatment of drug addiction, allowing sweeping anecdotal claims to run amok. Terry and Pellens’ book would be one of the first examples of an attempt to grasp the issue from a scientific standpoint. Despite this, drug addiction would continue to be interpreted from a moral standpoint by many medical professionals for the next several decades, influencing the character and enforcement of the prohibitionary laws on narcotics passed in the early twentieth century.

This Dose of History is brought to you by AIHP Intern Leo Ryan.

Check out the full article on our website, https://www.aihp.org/dose-of-history-the-o***m-problem/

***m

03/11/2026

In 1918, two young scholars from China appeared in the local newspaper in University of Wisconsin–Madison—then known simply as the University of Wisconsin. Their names: Mr. Chen Ko Keui and Mr. Chou Ming Hung.

Both were graduates of Tsinghua College, and they had crossed the Pacific with a focused intellectual mission. At U.W.’s School of Pharmacy, they pursued the plant chemistry of traditional Chinese medicine—bringing centuries-old pharmacological knowledge into dialogue with early 20th-century laboratory science.

This was more than academic training. It was a moment of transnational scientific exchange: Chinese scholars engaging chemical methods to analyze and interpret the botanical foundations of their own medical traditions. At a time when global networks of science were still taking shape, Cheng and Chou stood at the intersection of cultures, disciplines, and empires.

✨ Welcome to the Scholar in the Archives Series ✨

In this installment, J.J. R Strange shares archival images of K.K. Chen and M.H. Chou, as they appeared in the 1918 press, faces that remind us that the history of pharmacy is also a history of movement, translation, and intellectual ambition. Stay tuned as we begin uncovering the global stories hidden in the archives, with scholars using the AIHP for research.

03/10/2026

As we celebrate a 150 years of this groundbreaking invention, we're also honoring how it transformed pharmacy practice.

From the moment pharmacists first pcked up the receiver, the telephone became an essential tool for patient care.
- Doctors phoned in prescriptions
- Customers called to refill medications
- Patients reached out with questions and concerns

For generations, pharamcists have used the phone to strengthen communication, improve safety, and support better health outcomes—one call at a time.

These photos are part of our Drug Topics Photography Collection. View the digitized collection online, https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/ADrugTopicsColl

03/04/2026

Dose of History - The Growth of the O***m Trade

Throughout the nineteenth century, o***m became an increasingly valuable commodity both as a recreational drug and for its medicinal value. The Civil War drastically increased the amount of o***m imported into the United States and may have played a role in introducing morphine to a generation of American soldiers. By the late nineteenth century, o***m was central to pharmaceutical practice and was easily available without a prescription either directly from a pharmacist or in the form of a patent medicine.

Nearly all of the o***m consumed in Europe was produced in Asia. Although the vast majority of o***m in the American market was produced in Turkey, India was another notable producer of o***m. Due to the O***m Wars which Britain waged against China in the nineteenth century, much of the o***m produced in India, then a British colony, was exported to China. As immigration from China to the United States increased in the late nineteenth century, racist and anti-immigrant sentiment contributed to an association between Chinese people and recreational o***m use, despite the fact that o***m use was becoming increasingly common across racial lines.

Due to the reliance on exporting countries, perennial attempts were made to grow o***m in the United States. Several of these attempts were successful insofar as they yielded a quantity of morphine which was medically useful. For instance, one project in North Carolina yielded a respectable 5.1% morphine content. However, the high price of labor would make wide-scale production of the crop unviable in the United States.

The o***m poster images are part of AIHP's Frank Pinchak Poster Collection, the Svapnia advertisement comes from the May 28, 1891 Pharmaceutical Record, and the Superior Turkish o***m advertisement comes from the February 1, 1891 Pharamcetucal Era.

Visit our website to read the full article and see more images.

03/02/2026

AIHP not only has archivists with an eye for the fascinating, but it also serves as an active research hub for those interested in the history of pharmacy. We are launching Scholar in the Archives, where we will explore some of the exciting artifacts that are incorporated into new, exciting research.

Our first scholar to be featured is J.J.R Strange, a PhD Candidate in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s History of Science, Medicine, and Technology program in the History department. Her research focused on the history of chemistry, pharmacy, traditional Chinese medicine, 20th-century Chinese nationalism, Chinese scientism, and the intersection of research programs and political rhetoric.

She is currently working on her dissertation project, which follows the creation and dissolution of a research program in China in which chemists and pharmacists worked together to investigate the biochemical properties of Chinese herbs.

In her research, she has come across rich sources with the AIHP, ones that tell of ambition, global exchange, and the reimaging of an entire medical system through a molecular lens. These are the stories of the Chinese students who studied abroad and the professors who supported them.

03/01/2026

The American Institute of the History of Pharmacy (AIHP) recently appointed Dr. Kelly O'Donnell to the role of Co-Editor in Chief of HoPP, the institution's journal.

University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Pharmacy Towson University International Society for the History of Pharmacy British Society for the History of Pharmacy University of Wisconsin Press

Join us in celebrating Dr. O'Donnell's appointment and read the full story below!

Advancing knowledge and understanding of the history of pharmacy and medicines.