For many, the holiday season is synonymous with Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” Through Jan. 9, 2025, fans of the classic tale can visit the McGoogan Health Sciences Library to explore “The Works of Charles Dickens” as part of the “Orthopedics and Beyond: The H. Winnett Orr Rare Book Collection at a Half-Century” exhibition.
Erin Torell, the Orr exhibit curator and rare books librarian at the McGoogan Library, said the 50th anniversary exhibition showcases the career of Hiram Winnett Orr, MD, and the wide breadth of his rare-book-collecting interests.
Dr. Orr spent his career practicing medicine in Nebraska. He was influential in orthopedic surgery, helping to establish the specialty in the state and promoting its military medical applications during World War I. An avid rare book collector, he donated his extensive collection to the American College of Surgeons in the 1930s. The ACS gave the collection to the McGoogan Library as a permanent loan in 1974.
For 50 years, the library has stewarded the collection, making the volumes accessible to researchers and those interested in exploring how knowledge of the health sciences has changed over time.
Endowment supporting rare book collection transferred to UNMC
“Dr. Orr enjoyed collecting books on medical subjects including orthopedics, wound care and antiseptics related to military conflicts such as the American Civil War and World War I,” Torell said. “His career as an orthopedic surgeon during World War I heavily influenced his book collecting. However, Orr also collected books on humanities subjects, such as the works of Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare.”
Torell said Orr’s interest in Dickens and women’s history was influenced by medical school classmate Mary McKibben-Harper, MD. “Dr. Orr’s varied interests have shaped a unique rare book collection that is an asset to the UNMC community,” she said.
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the American College of Surgeons’ loan of the collection, a “friends of the library” event was held on Oct. 10 in the new exhibit space located on Level 8 in the library.
Carrie Meyer, associate dean of the Robert S. Wigton Department of Special Collections and Archives, said former archive associate Maria Shellman suggested the celebration after having spent more than a year working with the collection to make it more accessible to researchers. “Her work was instrumental in both bringing the anniversary to our attention but also in laying a foundation of information about the collection,” Meyer said.
“Dr. Orr, ever the enthusiastic collector, presented the idea of an ‘Orr Library’ to the ACS in 1929 – almost 100 years ago,” said Emily Glenn, dean of the McGoogan Health Sciences Library. “The library is proud to steward this collection on behalf of the ACS and continue the work of those who cherished scientific and human-interest learning through books.”
Glenn said it is the commitment of University of Nebraska President Jeffrey P. Gold, MD, to the ACS partnership with UNMC, that led to this significant collection being added as a permanent loan to McGoogan Library.
“We are incredibly grateful for Dr. Gold’s foresight to secure an endowment to accompany the transfer of the Orr Library,” Glenn said. “This funding allows the library to preserve and maintain the collection, refresh the Orr Collection exhibitions within the Wigton Heritage Center and present special exhibitions like this one within the library.”