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Visiting the Museum

The Clendening Library & Museum will be closed on Monday, September 2nd in observance of Labor Day.

For questions about visiting the Clendening Library, please contact Emma Malinee, emalinee@kumc.edu, 913-588-7244.

For questions about KUMC history and historical documents, please contact Alex Welborn, awelborn@kumc.edu, 913-588-7243.

Visiting the Museum

  • The Clendening Museum is located on the 1st floor of Robinson Hall on the University of Kansas Medical Center campus in Kansas City, Kansas (map).
  • The external doors into the medical center are badge locked; for entry, please call 913-588-7244, or enter through the front door of Bell Hospital Tower at 4000 Cambridge Street.
  • The museum is closed on all state designated holidays.
  • There is no charge for admission.
  • Parking for the Museum can be found in the Olathe II Public Parking structure and in the Cambridge Parking Facility (map). Bring ticket for validation. 
  • Pre-arranged tours of the Library & Museum are available. If interested, please contact us at least 3 days ahead of the requested date. Contact Manager of Historical Collections Jamie Rees (jrees@kumc.edu) for more information.

The Collection

The Clendening History of Medicine Museum has collected in order to support its mission and its vision for the future. In the spirit of responsible historical stewardship, the Museum is not actively collecting at this time. The Museum has an adequate representation of the following types of artifacts and thus no longer accepts them:

  • Medical bags
  • General medical instruments and supplies
  • Medications

The principal interpretive themes within the existing collection include instruments from 19th and 20th century American medicine; special emphasis on medical practice in Kansas; materials illustrative of ancient, medieval, and early modern eras (notably Etruscan, Roman, Babylonian, Egyptian, Chinese, Japanese, and pre-Columbian); pieces of exceptional artistic value (plaster cast of the Stele of Hammurabi, original paintings, portraiture, lithographs, and Japanese and Chinese woodblock prints and scrolls); American Civil War medicine; medicine in World War I; medicine in World War II; and the history of anesthesiology with special focus on the 20th century.

Current Exhibitions:

Banner with text "Beyond Angels of Mercy" above an image of the JayNurse mascot

  • Beyond Angels of Mercy: Florence Nightingale and the Evolution of the Nursing Uniform (Clendening Foyer, 1st Floor Robinson, June 6, 2023-May 24, 2024)
  • Highlights from the Bradley Smith Patent Medicine Collection (Anesthesia Department Office, Sudler, 2nd Floor)

For more information about the museum, please contact:

Jamie Rees
Manager of Historical Collections
(913) 588-7087
jrees@kumc.edu

KU School of Medicine

University of Kansas Medical Center
History and Philosophy of Medicine

Mail Stop 1025
3901 Rainbow Blvd.
Kansas City, KS 66160
Tel: 913-588-7098 | Fax: 913-588-7060