School of Medicine Hanaway Collection

The School of Medicine Hanaway Collection is a notable history of medicine collection  donated by Joseph Hanaway, MDCM, FAAN, a retired neurologist in St. Louis, Missouri. While at McGill University’s medical school, 1956-60, Dr. Hanaway discovered the Osler Library of the History of Medicine. He joined the student Osler Society under the Osler Librarian, Wm. Francis (Osler’s cousin), and received an introduction to the history of medicine. He began to collect books on Osler at local bookstores and continued for the next 50 years. His interests expanded to the history of neurology and neurosurgery after he was a resident at the Montreal Neurological Institute with the works of Harvey Cushing and Wilder Penfield.  

The donated collection includes the history of medicine of all subjects, the history of medicine in Canada, the history of medical education, Andreas Vesalius, and early atlases of anatomy, pathology, and surgery. Dr. Hanaway is a retired clinical assistant professor of neurology at Washington University and was also a visiting professor of neurology at the University of Missouri School of Medicine. He was one of the contributors to Dr. Charles S. Bryan’s 2020 publication, Sir William Osler: an encyclopedia.   

CLICK HERE to browse the School of Medicine Hanaway Collection. The majority of the collection is housed on the first floor of the Library.