About Us

Mission and Oversight

MISSION
The Office of NIH History works with all NIH components to foster documentation, preservation, and interpretation of the history of the National Institutes of Health. The Historical Research Unit collects and preserves papers, photographs, and audio-visual materials, while the Stetten Museum collects, preserves, and interprets biomedical research instruments and technologies related to the work of the NIH, and non-scientific objects which place the NIH in historical and cultural context.

HISTORY
In the early 1950s, Louise Endicott, a long-time member of the NIH Scientific Reports Branch, asked to be appointed as an unofficial agency historian. Ms. Encidott retired in 1956 and was apparently not replaced. In 1962, Dr. Wyndham Miles was appointed as the first professional historian for NIH. He served until 1974, when he moved to the History of Medicine Division, National Library of Medicine, to write a history of the library.

During the years leading up to the NIH centennial commemoration in 1986-1987, Dr. DeWitt Stetten, Jr., NIH Deputy Director for Science, emeritus, proposed establishment of a museum of medical research instruments to preserve the material heritage of biomedical research. In October 1986, the museum--combined with a revived NIH History Office--was created, and Dr. Victoria A. Harden was appointed NIH Historian and Curator of the Museum. In May 1987, the museum was renamed in honor of Dr. Stetten. In 2002 the organization was renamed the Office of NIH History with two components, the Historical Research Unit and the Stetten Museum. Dr. Harden retired at the end of January 2006.

OVERSIGHT
The Office of NIH History is a component of the Office of Intramural Research (OIR) in the Office of the Director. OIR is responsible for budget and operational authority of the Office of NIH History. In planning for the work of the office, the Deputy Director of Intramural Research and the Director of the Office of NIH History are advised by a committee of Federal scientists and officials appointed by the Director, NIH, and by non-Federal consultants on an ad-hoc basis.

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