» Day 1- Hello London: Arriving at the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM)
This is the second blog post in a series written by Georgette Mayo, Avery Research Center’s Processing Archivist, reflecting on her trip to London and Liverpool in October 2024.
Upon surviving the long flight and jet lag (the UK is five hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time), I slowly made my way to the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM), “one of the world’s most prestigious medical societies.” Our delegation organizer, Dr. Kim Cliett Long, Project Administrator of the Jonathan Green Maritime Cultural Center, arranged for us to stay at their members-only Domus Medica Hotel.
The benefit of staying here was the opportunity to explore the Royal Society’s library and archive. “Established in 1805 as the Medical and Chirurgical Society, the RSM has an extensive and rich history as a cross-specialty society sharing medical and healthcare knowledge.”1Among their numerous resources, the library holds medical records and journals of experiments conducted on the enslaved Africans who traveled throughout the transatlantic slave trade.
In the evening, we met and bonded with the members of our delegation. We enjoyed a traditional British supper at Rules. Established in 1798, Rules is the oldest restaurant in London.
Note: I intentionally strive to be concise in describing the locations visited. Admittedly, some blog posts will be longer than others, so stay tuned for those! For more information, access the links below to the visited institutions and sites of interest.
Footnote
- “History of the RSM,” The Royal Society of Medicine, https://www.rsm.ac.uk/about-us/history-of-the-rsm/ Accessed 3 December 2024. ↩︎