About
The Pathology Learning Centre holds an extraordinary collection of now disused clinical photographs that makes up the University of Cape Town's (UCT) Department of Surgery over a period of 50 years. This site is a small digital showcase of our extensive collection of patient photographs as well as x-rays, photographs of surgical procedures, specimens, and other forms of medically relevant visual imagery.
The Collection
The material that forms part of the UCT Department of Surgery's Collection of 20th Century Clinical Photographs was produced at teaching hospitals in Cape Town affiliated with the city's medical school (particularly Groote Schuur Hospital, GSH), and date between the 1920s and 1970s. The collection was historically used by the Department of Surgery, established on UCT's Orange Street Campus in 1920 with Professor Charles Saint as its first chair. This department was one of the earliest to move to the developing Groote Schuur estate in 1926, where the new teaching hospital, Groote Schuur Hospital, would be opened in 1938. Following Professor Saint's retirement in 1946, Professor Marcus Cole-Rous took the role of departmental chair, shortly followed by acting Professor Francois du Toit van Zijl in 1949 and Professor Jan Erasmus in 1950, who was succeeded by Professor Johannes Louw in 1955 who held this post until 1981.
This photographic collection accumulated as a clinical record and teaching aid, in parallel with the assembly of the Saint Pathology Museum, which accumulated examples of pathology removed from surgical patients. The photographer(s) are unidentified, although it is likely that a Mr G McManus and a Mr BTA had a hand in taking and developing GSH's photographic and radiographic images after 1945. The collection has been digitised to provide a resource for researchers in the medical humanities everywhere, but it is especially relevant for those studying the institutional, social, and representational history of medicine in Africa.
Our Showcase
While no longer used for teaching, a small sample of our photographic material is showcased here alongside the wet specimens similarly housed at the Pathology Learning Centre. Additonal medical teaching aids, public health posters of the period, as well as relevant medical journal articles have been added to create a rich and layered experience of our photographic collection.
Please browse our curated exhibits to learn more about our exciting holdings, or follow the links to our websites for more on the materials featured here.
Pathology Learning Centre Website