History Of Medicine Collections

Vanderbilt's Special Collections and University Archives staff are lending their unique expertise to enhance classroom learning across campus while engaging students in the university’s distinctive collections. Read More

The human mind’s susceptibility to suggestion and the trance-like state of hypnosis are the subjects of a new exhibit at the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries. "Power of Suggestion: The Hypnotism Library of Dr. Albert Moll" is on view at Special Collections and University Archives through mid-February 2026. Read More

Vanderbilt’s History of Medicine Collections is observing the university’s Sesquicentennial with the continuing exhibit, "United in Purpose: 150 Years of Medicine and Nursing at Vanderbilt." Read More

In 1935, the Vanderbilt medical library acquired a unique, 840-item collection of books, pamphlets and newspaper clippings on hypnotism from the personal library of the prominent German psychiatrist Dr. Albert Moll. Offered sight unseen by a German bookseller, the multilingual collection offered a unique perspective on the history of hypnosis as well as related subjects. Read More